'I know Michael Oliver' - Granit Xhaka fumes at English referee & makes Premier League point about controversial penalty award in Bayer Leverkusen's heavy Champions League loss to Bayern Munich

Xabi Alonso lost his first ever game as Bayer Leverkusen coach against Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League round-of-16 clash at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night, with the hosts taking a sizeable three-goal advantage into next week's second leg. Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka believes referee Michael Oliver made a significant mistake by awarding a penalty in the second half, insisting that he would never have made that decision in the Premier League.

Harry Kane set the tone for Bayern by breaking the deadlock in the ninth minute. Their lead was doubled by Jamal Musiala early in the second half, but things turned from bad to worse for the visitors in the 72nd minute, when substitute Edmund Tapsoba appeared to have taken down Kane inside the box following a Michael Olise corner. After a lengthy VAR check, Bayern earned a penalty, which Kane coolly slotted beyond Matej Kovar to make it three. Xhaka, though, was not pleased by the decision-making of the match officials, targeting English referee Oliver in particular in the post-game press conference.

"In the Premier League, he (Michael Oliver) doesn’t give that [as a penalty]," Xhaka told reporters after the game (h/t Get German Football News).

"I spent seven years there and know Michael. I’m convinced he wouldn’t whistle for it in the Premier League. There are so many blocks in the Premier League that today it was nothing. It’s a bit disappointing from him to whistle for that penalty at this level and probably decide the game. If you give a penalty for every block, there would be so many penalties every game."

The former Arsenal midfielder is already looking forward to next week's return leg at the BayArena. “If we go into the second leg [with the mentality to win], take an early lead, then anything can happen," he said. "I won’t give up. We can beat Bayern. We have to give everything. We won’t give up.”

However, before they can think about mounting a comeback against the Bavarian giants, Alonso's men will take on 12th-placed Werder Bremen on Saturday, March 8. Leverkusen occupy second place on the Bundesliga table, eight points behind Vincent Kompany and Co.