Granit Xhaka on the penalty given to Bayern Munich: In the Premier League, he doesn’t give that.”

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·6 mars 2025

Granit Xhaka on the penalty given to Bayern Munich: In the Premier League, he doesn’t give that.”

Speaking to the media (via @iMiaSanMia) after Bayer Leverkusen’s 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich, Granit Xhaka has spoken on the penalty given to Bayern in the second half.

In the second half, after Leverkusen had gone down to 10 men, substituted Edmond Tapsoba held onto Harry Kane during a corner, and after a check by VAR, Bayern were awarded a penalty which Kane converted to make it 3-0 on the night.

Vidéos OneFootball

On the penalty, Xhaka said:

“In the Premier League, he [Michael Oliver] doesn’t give that. I spent 7 years there and know Michael. I’m convinced he wouldn’t whistle it in the Premier League. There are so many blocks in the Premier League that today it was nothing. It’s a bit disappointing from him to whistle such a penalty at this level and probably decide the game. If you give a penalty for every block, there would be so many penalties every game”

Regardless of the penalty, Leverkusen’s performance as a whole was very poor, and they were way off pace for the whole game, both in defense and in attack. On the performance, Xhaka commented:

“The frustration is huge. A lot of things happened today where I have to breathe a little to avoid saying something wrong. I’m not going to pick on individuals, but there were a few things that shouldn’t have happened at this level.”

One of the talking points is the desire for Xabi Alonso not to play against Bayern with a recognised striker once again. Despite it working in the earlier encounters, in the games this year it has been detrimental to Leverkusen. On the decision, Xhaka noted:

“I’m not the coach. He has his own ideas – whether with or without a number 9.”

The Swiss midfielder then spoke on how the team may turn around the result next week at the BayArena:

“If we go into the second leg [with Bayern’s mentality], take an early lead, then anything can happen. I won’t give up. We can beat Bayern. We have to give everything. We won’t give up.”

With the second leg at home next week, Leverkusen will have to produce one of their best performances under Alonso to come close to turning the tie around while they will also need Bayern to have an off day. Whether that is possible looks very unlikely.

GGFN | Jack Meenan