Champions League: when the referee in Manchester whistles half-time too early… and does not see Garnacho degrade the penalty point (video)

In the absence of a great spectacle, the Champions League meeting between Manchester United and Copenhagen, played on Tuesday evening and won by the Red Devils (1-0), offered its share of emotions and funny scenes. At the end of a very dull first period, the Italian referee of the game, Marco Guida, raised his whistle to his mouth to whistle for half-time... before the regulation 45 minutes of play. The 22 players were in fact sent back to the locker room after 44 minutes and 40 seconds. An astonishing scene which inevitably recalls the Tunisia-Mali match during the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations during which the central referee whistled the end of hostilities much too early, sparking numerous reactions on social networks.

On the Old Trafford side, Mr Guida's decision will not have impacted the final result, decided in the second half by Erik Ten Hag's players, winners thanks to Harry Maguire's goal and André Onana's decisive save on a penalty at the end of added time. Far from his level since the start of the season, the Cameroonian goalkeeper saved his team after the undermining work, undertaken in complete discretion, by his young teammate Alejandro Garnacho.

While several Mancunians contested the foul called against Scott McTominay with the referee, the Argentine striker took the opportunity to degrade the small white penalty point. Did his clever stud kicks precipitate the miss of the Swede Jordan Larsson, son of Henrik who played for Manchester United? Difficult to say, the fact remains that the sequel proved him right. In full doubt, the Red Devils really needed this success which puts them back in the race to qualify for the round of 16. And this, regardless of the means used and the playing time reduced by Mr Guida.