The start of the final couldn’t have been worse for the Parisians. Despite dominating possession in the opening quarter-hour—78% to 22%—they found themselves trailing to Arsenal (0-1) on Saturday in Budapest. The Gunners struck early in the fifth minute after a misplaced clearance by Marquinhos ricocheted off Leandro Trossard, unintentionally setting Kai Havertz free in depth. On the left flank, the German advanced to challenge Matvey Safonov before unleashing a thunderous strike under the crossbar.

Moments later, the defending champions thought they had leveled the score. Just after the 15-minute mark, Bukayo Saka received a corner from Ousmane Dembélé. The England international, positioned near the edge of the box, deflected the ball twice with his arms before touching it a third time with his hand. The Parisians immediately protested for a penalty, but the referee—Germany’s Daniel Siebert—remained unmoved, and the VAR did not intervene.

Did Saka deliberately expand his body’s coverage area?

Under IFAB’s Laws of the Game, not every touch of the ball by a player’s hand or arm constitutes an offense. A handball is penalized if it is intentional or if the player “deliberately increases the area covered by their body.” Officials likely determined that Saka’s position was a natural consequence of attempting to clear the ball, given his arms were away from his torso. The incident hinged on whether his posture artificially expanded his reach—an interpretation that swayed neither the referee nor the VAR.

Reactions on social media were sharply divided. Critics argued that Saka’s repeated use of his hands—27 times in two seconds—should have warranted a penalty, with sarcastic remarks like “the guy’s juggling with his hands but everything’s fine” and “VARsenal” trending. Others defended the decision, stating that the contact was incidental and insisting “it’s nothing” or “hard to call a handball there.” By halftime, despite a few chances, Paris had failed to equalize.