"Not in the spirit of football": BVB and Niko Kovac are up in arms following a controversial penalty decision against TSG Hoffenheim

Moments earlier, Süle had suffered a more serious-looking injury. As the 30-year-old took a step forward and twisted his knee, he could not pull his arm away in time, making contact with the ball as he fell. VAR Benjamin Cortus called referee Siebert to the monitor, and after reviewing the slow-motion footage, Siebert pointed to the spot. Andrej Kramaric converted the penalty to make it 1-0.

“Our player was injured in that action. Giving a penalty in those circumstances isn’t in the spirit of the game. It’s frustrating for us,” BVB coach Kovac told DAZN. He later approached Siebert again after the match: “We spoke and ultimately he hadn’t seen it. The VAR contacted him and, as a result, he went out and assessed it as a penalty or handball.”

Kovac later acknowledged that he would have welcomed a penalty for his own side, “but I don’t know if that’s in the spirit of the game. Niki goes down. He braces himself with one hand, and the other has to come down at some point due to gravity. That’s incredibly unlucky, but according to the rules, it’s a penalty.”

Serhou Guirassy briefly levelled for Dortmund, yet Kramaric then converted a second handball spot-kick, this one awarded against Julian Ryerson, to secure Hoffenheim’s win. “We lost the game because of two penalty situations. The second one is clear-cut. He [Ryerson] turns away and the ball hits his hand,” Kovac concluded.

Borussia Dortmund’s 1-2 loss to Hoffenheim means they have not yet clinched Champions League qualification. However, a 12-point cushion over fifth place effectively guarantees a top-four finish.

Trailing leaders Bayern by 12 points, the Munich side can wrap up the title on Sunday against VfB Stuttgart; a single point would stretch their advantage to an unassailable 13 with only four matches left.