Aston Villa's Tyrone Mings makes an incredible faux pas, two Swiss players take center stage and the evening ends painfully for a Barça star. Here are the scenes from Champions League Wednesday.
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- On Champions League Wednesday, a number of actions provided material for discussion.
- Yann Sommer shines in Inter's win against Arsenal, but is also lucky. And Edimilson Fernandes scores for Stade Brest.
- But the craziest scene happened in the game between Bruges and Aston Villa. Here are scenes from the evening.
Stupidity leads to Aston Villa's defeat
Curious scene in Bruges: Five minutes after the break, Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez takes a kick and plays a short pass to teammate Tyrone Mings. He takes the ball in his hands - probably assuming that play has not yet been cleared. Wrong thinking! Referee Tobias Stieler has no other option but to award a penalty after the handball.
Brugge captain Hans Vanaken doesn't need to be asked twice, converting with aplomb to give the Belgians a 1:0 home win. "This mistake is really strange," said Aston Villa coach Unai Emery in bewilderment after the final whistle. "It's only happened once in my whole life - today."
By contrast, the scene may be familiar to some Arsenal or Bayern fans. In last season's quarter-final clash, Arsenal defender Gabriel took the ball in his hands after a kick from goalkeeper David Raya.
Despite vehement Bayern protests, the referee Glenn Nyberg did not award a penalty at the time and explained his decision: "That's a child's mistake, I don't whistle that in the Champions League quarter-finals."
Sommer clears his opponent
Yann Sommer was also lucky not to be awarded a penalty in Inter's 1:0 win against Arsenal. In the 28th minute, the former international goalkeeper misjudged a cross and hit opponent Mikel Merino on the head with his fists. The Swiss should probably not have complained about a penalty.
As the game progressed, Sommer shone with several strong saves and held on to the win for Inter. His flying tackle on Kai Havertz in the 59th minute was particularly impressive:
A Swiss strikes
A Swiss player also takes center stage in the match between Sparta Prague and Stade Brest. Edimilson Fernandes hammered the ball into the net after a rebound from the edge of the box to make it 1:0 for the French side, who went on to win the game 2:1.
Raphina tries the Shaqiri
Barça win 5-2 at Red Star Belgrade, but Hani Flick's star-studded team don't have it all their own way. Raphinha tries to convert a corner kick directly in the first half, but fails to hit the post.
The evening ended painfully for youngster Pau Cubarsi. The 17-year-old was hit in the face during a defensive action and eventually had to be substituted.
Cubarsi's wound on his chin required ten stitches after the game. Barça posted pictures of the injured defender on social media and wrote: "Giving everything for the club".
