On Wednesday night at Paris’ Parc des Princes, we saw one of the most significant moments since the introduction of VAR.
Manchester United were minutes away from being dumped out of the UEFA Champions League, but VAR stepped in and the Red Devils made the great escape.
Many will argue about whether Presnel Kimpembe could have avoided the handball that resulted in PSG being eliminated from the last-16 tie in the last minute, but what we cannot deny is that VAR needs to be run by real football people.
Anyone who has actually played the game of football would be able to tell you that Kimpembe could not have moved his body in any other fashion.
He did not deliberately stick his arm out and block the shot. The shot came from a close range, and he turned his body around, essentially no longer facing the ball by the time it actually hit his arm.
(FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images)
So you tell me, do you think he deliberately handballed it?
Well, what you and I think means absolutely nothing.
More interesting to me is whether football fans believe that VAR is working.
We have seen it introduced in cup competitions in England, and it is in full swing in the MLS.
It is truly hard to say if it is working and in the space of 48 hours we have seen VAR wreak havoc.
Real Madrid will argue that the ball went out before Ajax went on to score the third goal in their stunning 4-1 upset, although Real Madrid had absolutely no chance of winning anyway.
Both Champions League games were vital and held enormous implications for those who advanced, not just limited to financial rewards.
VAR needs some tweaking. It absolutely ruins counter-attacking football, and say goodbye to quick restarts.
Yet it has been implemented into the game of football so quickly, but the trial and error of it have barely been scratched.
There is so much more work to be done regarding VAR, but I guess we will learn as we go, and the growing pains will be excruciating.
And don’t get started on the length it takes for VAR to finally come to a conclusion, which then results in ridiculously long injury times. It is just modern football.
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