Jude Bellingham called the decision to reward Chelsea a penalty retake a ‘joke’ after his Borussia Dortmund side got knocked out of the Champions League on a 2-1 aggregate.
After drawing the tie level in the first half through Raheem Sterling’s strike, Chelsea were awarded a penalty when Marius Wolf was penalised for a handball. Kai Havertz stepped up to take the resultant penalty, but his effort hit the post.
The referee ordered a retake due to encroachment, and the German from the same spot scored the winning goal that ensured the Blues progressed to the quarterfinals.
It was a decision that left England international Bellingham upset as he and his teammates were made to endure another disappointing exit in the Champions League.
“I’ve not seen the incident back, from where I was, it looked pretty close. I’m not sure what more you can do with the hands,” Bellingham who was speaking to BT Sport after the game said.
“It is a yard or two away. I am not too sure. I don’t want to get in trouble. That in itself was disappointing but the fact they had a retake is a joke.”
For every penalty with such a slow run up there is going to be encroachment by people running into the box by a yard or so, but that’s the game. They’ve made the decision and we have to live with it.”
Dortmund prior to this game had been on a winning streak of 11 games in all competitions. The side managed by Edin Terzic had won all their games in 2023.
With this exit, Bellingham and his team will now quickly shift their attention to the Bundesliga where they face Schalke on Saturday in the Revierderby.There will seek to put the Champions League exit aside as they seek to consolidate their position.
The side is joint top with record league winners Bayern Munich, with both teams boasting 49 points collected from 23 games.
