Arsenal vs Leverkusen ref apologised to Ronaldo and left star furious with 'bottled' call

Arsenal vs Bayer Leverkusen is delicately poised as both teams aim to progress in the Champions League

Arsenal enter the second leg of their Champions League encounter with Bayer Leverkusen with the fixture finely balanced thanks to Kai Havertz's late equaliser in Germany. One of the continent's most seasoned referees has been selected to oversee the match, though even he has previously been embroiled in contentious incidents.

Danny Makkelie has been appointed to officiate the fixture at the Emirates Stadium. He is one of two Dutch officials overseeing round of 16 matches in the tournament this season, following Serdar Gozubuyuk's involvement in the first leg of Atletico Madrid versus Tottenham.

Makkelie, 43, has presided over 58 Champions League fixtures throughout his career. Six of those occurred earlier this campaign, including the dramatic play-off between Galatasaray and Juventus, while this will be his third time officiating an Arsenal match in the competition.

He has had other run-ins with English supporters in the past, though, provoking fury after disallowing a late goal in their UEFA Nations League loss to Spain. Danny Welbeck, then an Arsenal player, was denied when Makkelie ruled out his late equaliser for a foul on Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea.

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"In those big moments you need a ref to stay strong and unfortunately he's bottled it," England captain Harry Kane told Sky Sports after the game. "Danny Welbeck's just stood there, the keeper's come to catch it and just fallen on top of him and he's put it away.

"So now the ref's given a foul. Those big moments, sometimes you need a firm ref who doesn't, under the pressure, give wrong decisions."

Arguing England merited a draw instead of the 2-1 defeat which came their way, Kane continued: "[Welbeck] hasn't gone to foul him or anything, and the ball's dropped. Keepers sometimes get better treatment than the rest of us and that's unfortunate for us."

Three years later, Makkelie incurred the wrath of a senior player once more - albeit in different circumstances. He incorrectly ruled out a Cristiano Ronaldo goal for Portugal but in this case was willing to issue an apology for his mistake.

Ronaldo was representing Portugal against Serbia in a World Cup qualifier when he believed he had netted a late winner. Makkelie thought the attempt had been cleared off the line by Stefan Mitrovic and there was no goal-line technology available to correct the error.

"As per FIFA's policies, all I can say is that I apologised to the national coach, Mr. Fernando Santos, and to the Portuguese team for what happened," Makkelie said after the 2-2 draw.

"As a referee team, we always work hard to make good decisions. When we are in the news in this manner, it doesn't make us happy at all."