France - Germany (UEFA Nations League): report on the performance of Milorad Mažić

The fourth matchday of League A in the UEFA Nations League was completed yesterday by the clash of two big teams. Current World Champions from France faced their predecessors from Germany, who are currently going through a tough time and who are still without a victory in their group. Taking all this into context, UEFA Referees Committee have decided to appoint one of their most entrusted referees: Milorad Mažić from Serbia, who officiated the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final, was given this task.

The game itself was not very difficult to manage for the referee: players of both squads concentrated themselves to play football, committing only quite a few fouls. Milorad Mažić was in full control over the entire ninety minutes and one could see that is trusted a lot by the players he encounters on the pitch (also due to the fact that he is very close with the players, as you can see here with Giroud in 40'). 

However, Milorad Mažić had to make three crucial decisions, all of them occurring in the penalty area, with two of them being given.

==> The first situation came up in 13', when Germany were awarded a penalty for handball. Leroy Sané runs into the penalty area and shoots to his left, when the ball hits the arm of Presnel Kimpembe who attempts to make a sliding tackle. The ball hits the upper arm of the French defender, which is slightly detached from his body. However, we can question whether this is a deliberate handball, because the distance between the player and the ball is actually quite short. Had it hit the forearm of Kimpembe, which was high in the air and therefore would have clearly blocked the shot, I agree that in such a case a penalty has to be given. I'm doubtful though about this one, however, we must underline that it is not a clear and obvious mistake. Furthermore, we must also focus here on the teamwork between the referee and his additional assistant referee, who has very likely made the decision. Mažić shows him even a thumbs-up to thank him for the help, a gesture that I personally really appreciated. 

==> The second situation in the penalty area occurred in 26', as French attacker Kylian Mbappé sprints in the penalty area, but goes down after what looks like a holding by German defender Mats Hummels. The referee however decided not to award a penalty here and letting play continue, which was a correct decision for my taste. Yes, the arm of Hummels goes out, but this is not enough for Mbappé to go down like that, he falls too easily. 

===> The third and final penalty area that Milorad Mažić had to assess occurred in 79' and it is in my view the most interesting one. At first, it looks as if Blaise Matuidi is taken down by Mats Hummels inside the penalty area. The referee does not hesitate and awards a penalty to France, which seems at first a correct decision (DOGSO + attempt to play the ball). However, we are deceived by watching the replays: Hummels attempts to make a foul, but it is Matuidi who steps on the foot of his German opponent. I feel that the correct decision should have been free-kick for an offensive foul. But I must underline that this is something that is incredibly difficult (I dare even to say: impossible) to see that live, so the decision made by Mažić is absolutely understandable. Only the use of VAR (which does not exist in the Nations League) could probably have solved this situation. Nevertheless, if the referee says that this is a penalty, a yellow card should have been issued to Hummels, since it is DOGSO inside the penalty area with an attempt to play the ball. 

In terms of disciplinary action, Mažić issued only one yellow card in that game, which was a mandatory one for Matthias Ginter, stopping a promising attack. Other than the missing caution for Hummels (which has already been mentioned before), no problems at all for the Serbian official, who solved situations a lot with his (strong) personality. 

Finally, we should also talk about the fitness skills that were displayed by the referee in this match: we must not forget that Milorad Mažić is already 45 years old, but he still possesses excellent sprinting and running abilities, which allows him to be very close to play. This also allows him to flexibly adapt his diagonal movement on the pitch, he does not hesitate to extend it very widely on the pitch (notably when he's running around the penalty area). This is a very positive point that I would like to highlight.

Overall, in terms of control, Mažić had absolutely no issues on this evening, which is also due to his huge experience he already has in UEFA competitions. My feeling is as well, that there are enough reasons to back him in the three penalty area situations. Conclusively, the referee had a decent match in the Stade de France.