Bayern Munich star had to wear another team’s jersey during the match to follow UEFA rules.
Bayern Munich’s goalkeeper had to wear a kit from another club during their Women’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Barcelona on Sunday. Barcelona won 4-2 at Camp Nou, taking the overall score to 5-3 and reaching the Champions League final for the sixth year in a row.
Before the game started, there was a bit of drama. Bayern’s goalkeeper Ena Mahmutovic was told she couldn’t wear the purple shirt Bayern brought because it didn’t follow UEFA’s rules. German TV commentator Claudia Neumann explained that the shirt color was too close to either Barcelona’s goalkeeper Cata Coll’s shirt or the match referee’s.
It’s unclear why UEFA made this decision since the referee wore light blue and Coll wore green, but sometimes purple can look like blue to people with certain types of color blindness. In the end, Mahmutovic had to wear a bright yellow Adidas training top with her name and number printed on the back in the same style as Barcelona’s jerseys. She also wore orange shorts and socks from Barcelona, with their badge covered up with tape.
SPORTbible has reached out to UEFA and FC Bayern Women for comments.
Once the match kicked off, Barcelona’s star midfielder Alexia Putellas scored first. Bayern’s Linda Dallmann quickly equalized, making the score even both in the game and on aggregate. But Barcelona took the lead again with goals from Salma Paralluelo and Ewa Pajor. Bayern’s former Chelsea forward Pernille Harder gave her team some hope by scoring, cutting the gap.
Putellas, who might join the Women’s Super League after her contract ends this season, scored again to make it 4-2. Bayern thought they scored again in the 90th minute when Harder finished well inside the box, but the goal was ruled out after a VAR review.
Barcelona will face Lyon in the Champions League final. Lyon earned their spot by beating the previous champions Arsenal 3-1 on Saturday, winning 4-2 over two legs. Arsenal’s Alessia Russo had tied the aggregate score after early goals from Wendie Renard and Kadidiatou Diani, but Jule Brand’s late goal sent Lyon through to the final in Oslo.