How Bayern Munich could have saved their penalty shoot-out against Borussia Dortmund

Philipp Lahm’s miss set the tone for the rest of the penalty shoot-out

Although Bayern Munich lost out on penalties to Borussia Dortmund last night in the semi-final of the DFB Pokal, they could have possibly saved their penalty shoot-out had they known to consult a little known FIFA rule. The Bavarians eventually lost 2-0 on penalties, having missed all 4 of their attempts.

The first two misses by Philipp Lahm and Xabi Alonso were very similar, as both of them slipped and fell while taking their penalties in the same manner. Lahm slipped and his standing leg gave way, leading to his attempt going high and wide. Having noticed that, Gundogan stepped up, patted the area around the penalty spot, and then converted his spot-kick calmly.

Bayern’s next penalty taker Alonso was cautious while taking his attempt, but he too went and slipped, and ended up putting his attempt wide. The similarity between both the misses was quite striking, and immediately raised two questions – Was there any issue with their studs or was the problem with the pitch?

The first theory could be eliminated based on the fact that the players didn’t really slip during the match. Now that leaves the issue of the pitch. The fact that both players saw their legs on the left of the penalty spot give way indicates that there could have been something wrong with the area there. That is where Guardiola’s team could have done something.

Xabi Alonso missed Bayern Munich’s second penalty

Bayern Munich could have tried to get the penalty spot inspected

FIFA Regulations Law 14, called Kicks from the Penalty Mark, says that, “The referee chooses the goal at which the kicks will be taken - the goal may be changed only if it becomes unusable.”

This rule could have been applied by the Bayern Munich players had they asked the referee to inspect the area. If the referee had found that the area was indeed scuffed, he had the power to change the location of the shootout to the other goal, and the shootout would have resumed from the same scoreline.

An example of this rule was when Japan used it against Jordan in the 2004 Asian Cup quarter-final in China. The right side of the penalty spot was muddy, and Japan’s left-sided takers, Nakamura and Alex missed their penalties.

The Japanese then asked the referee to inspect the spot, and the referee deemed it not right, and so moved the shootout to the opposite end. Jordan who were leading 2-0 and then 3-1, missed both their penalties, and then went on to lose the match in sudden-death.

So, it is something to think about, as Bayern could have potentially turned the tie around if they had been shooting in the other goal, as both Mario Gotze and Manuel Neuer, had tentative run-ups, in addition to the pressure created by the earlier misses.