Joao Neves Handball: Why Bayern Weren’t Awarded a Penalty vs PSG

VAR upholds no-call on Joao Neves as Bayern protest Champions League decision

Vincent Kompany was left frustrated after Nuno Mendes escaped a second yellow for a 29th-minute handball, saying “his hand was above his head.”

The decision came with Bayern already trailing 2-0 on aggregate in their Champions League semi-final against PSG...

A week after the nine-goal Champions League semi-final thriller between Bayern and PSG, attention has turned to a different flashpoint. The main talking point now is whether Joao Neves handled the ball in the box and why no penalty was given to Bayern.

Were the officials at the Allianz Arena correct in their decision? What do the laws of the game say about the 31st-minute incident that could have changed the course of the match?

At that stage Bayern were two goals down on aggregate, but they looked in control. They were keeping most of the possession and pushing forward, and Josip Stanisic delivered a dangerous cross into the PSG penalty area.

Matvey Safonov could only parry the Croatian’s cross, and Vitinha reacted fastest to the loose ball.

The Portuguese midfielder took one touch to control it and attempted to clear it with his second, but instead struck it directly into the arm of fellow countryman Joao Neves, who was standing about five meters away.

Bayern’s response was immediate. Every player except Konrad Laimer appealed to referee Joao Pinheiro, making their dissatisfaction with the non-call clear.

Despite Bayern’s protests, the Portuguese referee stayed composed and, after a VAR review, ruled that Neves had not committed a handball.

The home players, Bayern’s bench led by Vincent Kompany, and even Uli Hoeness in the stands disagreed, but the 38-year-old official’s decision matched the rulebook.

Under IFAB guidelines, a handball isn’t given if the ball strikes a player’s hand from close range off a teammate, the arm is in a natural position consistent with body movement, and the player has no time to react. 

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A handball is an offence if the arm is in an unnatural position that makes the body larger, if the player deliberately moves the hand toward the ball, or if they gain an advantage from the contact.

Controversy also flared in the 29th minute when Nuno Mendes, already on a yellow card, stopped a Bayern counterattack with his hand. Bayern immediately called for a second booking and a red card, but the referee didn’t oblige.

Pinheiro instead awarded a free kick to PSG, apparently on the fourth official’s advice, after penalizing Laimer for an alleged handball moments earlier. TV replays, however, didn’t clearly show Laimer handling the ball.

Given the decision to penalise Alphonso Davies for handball in last week’s game and award Paris Saint-Germain a penalty, the failure to punish Joao Neves this evening baffled — and infuriated — Allianz Arena.

Neves’ touch was inadvertent and it was from a rushed clearance made… pic.twitter.com/MLFcMwFJwj

— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) May 6, 2026

“Why wasn’t it a red card? I don’t understand. Why did we get a penalty in Paris and not here? I know the rules, but his hand was above his head,” Kompany said after the match and Bayern’s elimination. “It felt like some handball decision went against us,” he added.

“It’s at the very least surprising that a referee with only 15 Champions League matches to his name is in charge of a game like this. That might explain some of his decisions today,” Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen told Sky Sport about Pinheiro.

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A jak se na tento moment, který se stal v pokutovém území PSG díváte vy?#NovaSport | #UCL pic.twitter.com/0l6WYmoR79

— Nova Sport (@novasport_cz) May 6, 2026