What a crazy game. In fairness to the referee, I do feel bad for him because the degree of difficulty is off the charts, but a lot of his decisions (and particularly the way he made them) certainly didn’t help. Be curious to hear people’s thoughts on that penalty kick execution. A case of illegal feinting after the run up is complete? To me it feels right on the borderline. He does take one more step forward with each foot after the feint, but they’re very small ones.
While the sanctions are not as much as I would have liked to see, they are heavier than I really expected to see. (And I suppose the fines need to be seen through a different lens than comparing to US professional sports.)
I come from the exact same headspace as you. Of course it’s insane. But then, this would hardly be the only time this year that something unthinkable is also true. You should be used to it by now.