The first games of the season in the UEFA Champions League have left quite a few talking points. First off, the goal scored by Cristiano Ronaldo in the Young Boys vs Manchester United game, but what happened between Sevilla and Salzburg during the first 45 minutes was truly history in the making.
The first half of the game between the Spanish and the Austrian sides saw Belarusian ref Aleksei Kulbakov awarding four penalties during that span. What really stood out when you look at the ref's decisions was that only one of those was handed to Sevilla, while three others were awarded to the away side.
The first penalty of the game was awarded to Salzburg, but Karim Adeyemi was not capable of scoring from the spot after 13 minutes. Eight minutes later, Jesús Navas tackled one of Salzburg's players inside the box for the ref to award the visitors a second spot kick. This time, Luka Susic scored the opening goal of the evening.
With Salzburg leading, the ref awarded the visitors a third penalty, and while Susic scored the second one, he was not able to score a brace from the penalty spot. Just when the final minutes of the half arrived, Ivan Rakitic scored the only penalty awarded to Sevilla to level things before the break.
Here's how this crazy game looks like on our LiveSoccerTV app.
But remember we mentioned that this game had gone down in history due to those four penalties? Here's why:
"HISTORY-MAKING MATCH IN THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE" First game with FOUR awarded penalties in tournament history. First time an away side has taken THREE penalties in a single game (there were three host teams to do so previously)."
SEV 1-1 SAL (42')
— MisterChip (Alexis) (@2010MisterChip) September 14, 2021
PARTIDO PARA LA HISTORIA DE LA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Primer partido con CUATRO penaltis señalados en TODA la historia del torneo.
Primera vez que un equipo visitante lanza TRES penaltis en un mismo partido de #UCL (hubo 3 clubes locales que si lo hicieron).