The Champions League final started disastrously for PSG. Though the Parisians dominated possession early on (78% to Arsenal’s 22%), it was the London side that struck first on Saturday in Budapest. The opening goal came just five minutes in after Marquinhos miscontrolled a clearance from Leandro Trossard, inadvertently setting Kai Havertz free down the left flank. The German forward then evaded Matvey Safonov before unleashing a thunderous shot under the crossbar.

Minutes later, PSG thought they had equalized when Saka appeared to handle the ball in the box following a corner from Ousmane Dembélé. The England international, positioned close to the edge of the penalty area, had deflected the ball twice with his arms before making a third contact with his hand. The Parisian players immediately protested, but to no avail. Referee Daniel Siebert chose not to award the spot-kick, and the Video Assistant Referee did not intervene.

Did he artificially increase his body’s covered surface?

Under IFAB Law 12, not every contact between the ball and a player’s arm or hand constitutes an offense. A foul occurs only if the contact is deliberate or if the player artificially increases the surface area covered by their body. This happens when the positioning of the arm or hand is not a natural consequence of the player’s body movement in the situation. In this instance, Saka’s arms were clearly away from his body, suggesting his position was a direct result of his attempt to clear the ball—leading officials to rule out a penalty.

The decision sparked fierce debate online. Some fans argued that “the player touched the ball 27 times with his hand in two seconds” and sarcastically questioned the legitimacy of the ruling, while others countered that “he made it look easy like Neves’ hand in Munich”, insisting there was nothing wrong with the play. At halftime, PSG had failed to claw back the deficit despite a few half-chances, none of which truly threatened the Arsenal goal.