Explained: How Liverpool’s possible penalty turned into a Real Madrid drop-ball after the Tchouameni handball incident
Liverpool were left frustrated after being denied what they believed was a clear penalty during their 1-0 victory over Real Madrid on Tuesday night, only for play to restart with a dropped ball in favour of the visitors.
Just before the half-hour mark, with the game still goalless, Dominik Szoboszlai’s effort struck the arm of Aurelien Tchouameni. Referee Istvan Kovacs initially awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box, but VAR requested a review to check whether the handball occurred inside the area.
After consulting the pitchside monitor, Kovacs surprisingly ruled that no handball offence had taken place and restarted the game with a dropped ball to Real Madrid, leaving Liverpool players and supporters stunned.
Why was it a dropped ball to Madrid?
BBC Sport’s Dale Johnson later clarified the reasoning behind the decision. He explained that:
The location of the handball is a factual call decided by VAR, not the on-field referee.
A referee is only sent to the monitor for subjective decisions – in this instance, whether the handball offence should stand.
By going to the screen, Kovacs effectively overturned his original handball call.
Johnson added that because VAR confirmed the incident happened inside the box, it would’ve been a penalty if handball was upheld – and penalties are reviewable. But once the ref decided there was no handball at all, the attacking phase ended, so play restarted with Real Madrid getting the ball back.
Had the handball been confirmed as outside the area, the original free-kick to Liverpool would’ve stood, even if it was technically the wrong decision.
A strange call that luckily didn’t matter
While the explanation makes sense by the laws of the game, Liverpool supporters will still wonder how the referee concluded that Tchouameni hadn’t committed a handball, especially with his arm seemingly outstretched.
Kovacs had already frustrated Alexis Mac Allister earlier by stopping a promising counterattack, and this ruling only added to the sense of injustice.
In the end, Liverpool still took all three points thanks to Mac Allister’s winning header, but if the match had finished level or with a narrow Real Madrid win, this incident would’ve dominated the post-match reaction.
Thankfully it didn’t affect the outcome – even if the logic behind it still leaves plenty of unanswered questions.
