Julian Nagelsmann had already shaken his head before referee Tobias Stieler arrived in front of the screen. The coach of FC Bayern Munich had watched the two controversial scenes on the tablet on the trainer's bench and was only confirmed in his view anyway.

"I had good visibility both times and therefore it was relatively quickly apparent to me that both were penalties," said Nagelsmann after Bayern's 1-2 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on Sunday: "The first time I immediately thought that Adli had been hit on the heel. The second time I knew it definitely wasn't a swallow."

In both cases, Stieler had initially given Leverkusen's Amine Adli yellow. Both times he took it back, apologized and gave penalties that secured Exequiel Palacios Leverkusen's 2-1 victory. The impartial was relieved afterwards. "The VAR is always criticised a lot, but that was very good. He was my lifesaver – and also for the game of lifesavers," he said: "Because otherwise two wrong decisions would have stopped. That's why I take it with humor today."

"The football world can be satisfied"

"My soul is crying a little," said the referee after a true Bundesliga curiosity, "but the football world can be satisfied." Stieler knew who to turn to after the final whistle: his colleague Sören Storks. "It was a prime example of the perfect cooperation with the video assistant," he said on DAZN. "Twice on the field next to it, twice thank you in the Cologne cellar for the great support. In the end, both teams were happy because the right decision was made."

Adli saw it the same way, who promised Stieler his jersey. "Today I'm glad that the VAR intervened," said the Frenchman. During the decision-making process, he was "naturally tense and a bit nervous": "But now we're just happy." After the first decision, Adli had pointed to his well-worn shoe and then peppered it so vehemently on the lawn that he was lucky not to see yellow-red prematurely.

"I've been in football for a long time, but it rarely happens that you take off your own shoes," said Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes with a laugh. At the second yellow card, Adli only laughed and gave Stieler the sign that he had to correct himself again when he looked at it. In the end, however, the Leverkusen team had long since reconciled with the referee in the frenzy of victory. "He doesn't have to apologise," said captain and goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky: "I have to give him a lot of praise. He corrected himself twice, which shows greatness."

And the Bavarians did not quarrel about the unfortunate circumstances of the event. "If it's checked over the video evidence, I think it will have been clear twice," goal scorer Joshua Kimmich said. And Nagelsmann also drew a conciliatory line under the curious topic. "I'm generally a friend of VAR," said the coach: "Today it was two penalties, so everything was in the spirit of justice. So it was bitter, but fair."

The Bayern coach even suffered with Stieler. "It also took pressure off the referee," he said: "Imagine if he had left the two yellow cards, we might have won 1-0 and not got two clear penalties against us." Not only the Leverkuseners, but also the Dortmunders would have complained. In the event of a Bayern victory, they would have gone into the summit meeting on 1 April in second place, now they are doing it as league leaders.

The former referee Manuel Gräfe criticized his former colleague Stieler and also attacked the German Football Association. With the hashtag for the game (#B04FCB), the 49-year-old Gräfe denounced that there was a "personnel aberration of the last decade". This is made clear by the fact that "such" referees are protected by the DFB "up to the highest group of UEFA", "but the performances never justify it," tweeted Gräfe.

The 41-year-old Stieler has been a FIFA referee since 2014 and thus represents the DFB at international matches. Gräfe accuses the DFB of age discrimination after the end of his own Bundesliga career and had therefore sued the association.