‘It’s not a great success’: Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas lays into VAR as UEFA insist it WAS available to review Luis Suarez penalty incident after suggestion of technical problems
- Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has slammed VAR after Barcelona defeat
- Barcelona were awarded a contentious penalty via VAR with the scores 0-0
- Lionel Messi scored the resulting spot-kick to set Barca on their way to a 5-1 win
- Aulas claimed VAR was not successful and that the decision impacted the game
- UEFA assured Lyon that system was working at time of review despite reports
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has blasted VAR by insisting the technology was not used successfully in their Champions League defeat at Barcelona.
Aulas’ grievance comes after claims emerged that UEFA had intimated that there were technical problems with VAR during the review of Barcelona’s penalty in the first half of Wednesday’s game.
Barcelona were awarded a contentious penalty with the scores 0-0 after Jason Denayer appeared to catch Luis Suarez’s ankle with his studs in the box.
Barcelona won a penalty after Luis Suarez went down from Jason Denayer’s challenge
The Lyon defender appeared to catch Suarez’s ankle as he slid in to try and win the ball
Suarez went tumbling to the ground and the referee immediately pointed to the spot
The referee’s decision to point to the spot was eventually ratified by VAR with Lionel Messi nonchalantly chipping in from 12 yards to put the hosts on their way to a 5-1 victory.
However, the Lyon president was left furious by the decision and believes it set the tone for their downfall at the Nou Camp despite UEFA assuring him that VAR was working at the time of the review.
‘Today, you cannot say it is a real success. When that happens in an unbalanced match, one could imagine that it does not have a bearing on the result,’ Aulas said.
Lionel Messi scored the penalty to put Barcelona on way to 5-1 win after VAR ratified decision
‘But here, I feel that it really penalised our team and that we had a few weaknesses after that.
‘Barcelona were better, but there was not as much of a difference between the two teams as the result indicates.’
Philippe Coutinho doubled Barcelona’s lead not long after Messi’s opener from the penalty spot.
Lyon president Jean Michel Aulas (middle) insisted the system was not used successfully
Lyon grabbed one back through Lucas Tousart but another strike from Messi, and goals from Gerard Pique and Ousmane Dembele ensured safe passage into the quarter-finals for Barcelona.
Meanwhile, VAR continues to face questions over its reliability and competence after making a controversial introduction to the Champions League last month.
A number of dubious decisions have already been given via VAR and the pitch-side video monitor was not functioning properly during Manchester City’s first-leg clash with Schalke in Germany – resulting in the referee being ordered to give a penalty without seeing a replay of the incident.
UEFA insisted VAR was working at the time of the penalty review despite some reports
