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Wenger Criticizes VAR Over Man City’s Controversial Equalizer against Real Madrid

Arsene Wenger has chimed in on Manchester City’s contentious equalizer against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals.

After a fantastic shot from Vinicius Jr gave Real the lead in the first half, City responded in the second half with a Kevin De Bruyne thunderbolt, leaving the tie precariously poised ahead of next week’s second leg at the Etihad.

Real, on the other hand, was enraged that the goal was allowed to stand, claiming that the ball had gone out of play soon before De Bruyne scored. Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti was issued a yellow card for his protests, and the referee also spoke to Luka Modric.

Later, beIN Sports used 3D technology to investigate the situation, generating an image that suggested the ball had indeed gone out of play. Wenger, who is currently FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, went on to say, “Normally, the VAR should check if a goal is regular or not.”

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“In a situation like that, they have to intervene and they did not go far enough back to check if the ball was out or not or they [were unable] to check if the ball was out or not. I think we go for the second solution because normally VAR cannot check on the sideline, only on the goal line.

“VAR has been created to make more right decisions [based] on facts – is the ball in or out? VAR has to intervene and make the right decision, this is absolutely 100 percent.

“At the moment, I believe we cannot check on the sideline if the ball is in or out on the VAR. But we have a chip in the ball now and with a chip in the ball you can check.”

“The ball was off the pitch,” Ancelotti raged in his post-match press conference. That’s all. It was uttered by technology. I’m not sure why VAR didn’t check. The referee paid little attention to anything.”

However, the image provided by beIN Sports was not instant, and VAR does not yet have the technology to instantly determine whether the entire ball is out of play or not. There were no television cameras to provide a conclusive angle for VAR to examine.