Examining Juventus fans' conspiracy theories after a thrilling draw against Bayern Munich

Juventus, touted so often for exhibiting resilience and a fighting spirit (heck, it's one of the club's mantras), battled back from a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 deficit against Bayern Munich on Tuesday with a pair of second-half goals to head into the second leg of their Champions League tie knotted at two apiece.

Though the Bavarian club is full value for the result - Bayern was encamped in the Juventus half for the first 60-odd minutes of the match, and spurned opportunities to find the net on a few occasions - fans of the Italian club were none too pleased with the performance of referee Martin Atkinson and his assistants.

Was the English official at fault for the fact that the Bianconeri weren't able to procure a better result at home? Certainly not. But that hasn't stopped some from crying foul.

Here are their points of contention:

Thomas Muller's goal should have been ruled offside

The argument could be made that Robert Lewandowski was obstructing the view of Juventus 'keeper Gianluigi Buffon as Thomas Muller rolled home the opening goal of the contest.

(Courtesy: Calciomercato)

Verdict: Taken as a still photo at this exact moment, sure, the big Polish striker is directly in the legendary Italian's way. Of course, the play didn't unfold as a series of still photos. Buffon was scrambling across his goal in an effort to get a palm on Muller's shot, and nothing Lewandowski did impacted that in the slightest.

Bayern's second goal involved a foul in the buildup

Lewandowski was involved again in the second half, when a collision with Leonardo Bonucci at the top of the centre circle opened up space that allowed Bayern to break and, ultimately, find the net through a classic Arjen Robben left-footed curler.

Verdict: There was contact, no doubt, but after removing their black-and-white-striped glasses, Juventus supporters will likely cede that Bonucci, and not Lewandowski, was the one to initiate the contact in an effort to blow up the Bayern attack.

Juventus should have had two penalties in the opening half

Former Bianconeri hero Arturo Vidal was at the centre of two decisions that got the Juventus Stadium faithful riled up in the opening half, with the first a handball claim ...

(Courtesy: SportMediaset)

... and the second a suspected shove in the back of Paulo Dybala inside the penalty area.

(Courtesy: FS2)

Verdict: While FIFA's handball rule amounts to, essentially, "you're on your own, ref, figure it out," it looks as though Atkinson got the above call correct. Vidal's arm is tucked into his body, straight by his side. Humans have arms, and unless he were to literally rip it off, the Chilean had no chance of avoiding Paul Pogba's attempted cross. As for the suspected shove on Dybala, well, it certainly looks like a piece of very good defending, as Vidal simply outmuscles the smaller attacker.