Liverpool have fallen to a miserable 2-0 defeat at Napoli to open up the defence of the Champions League but there’s one overriding topic causing a stir amongst plenty of fans – VAR.
The hosts opened the scoring late on after Jose Callejon went to ground under the pressure of Andrew Robertson before former Tottenham Hotspur star Fernando Llorente sealed the deal in stoppage time.
There didn’t seem to be any contact in Robertson’s challenge on Callejon though, and many supporters have taken to social media to express their outrage at what is being seen as a blatant dive…
Twitter: @LFC So you can dive and win a penalty even with VAR? Great. (@PrimeFirmino)
Twitter: @LFC good performance, undeserved result. nice to know you can still dive and win a penalty even with VAR (@psychedelicnoel)
Twitter: @LFC VAR is a joke, ruining the football game (@DeadlyLongLegs)
Twitter: @LFC @uefa What is the point of VAR if it doesn’t overturn a blatant dive? Completely pointless. (@ovengloves72)
Twitter: @LFC VAR is a joke. i think it was invented to create jobs for retired refs. (@ronaldwyc)
Read Liverpool’s verdict
There will unsurprisingly be reactionary panic over tonight’s result, but you’d ultimately expect Liverpool to break out of the group fairly comfortably.
Callejon looked to go down without contact and the penalty shouldn’t have been given, unless the VAR has seen something we’re missing, but the Reds weren’t good enough to win on the night.
The focus must be turned towards Sunday at Stamford Bridge now because there’s a five-point lead that’s very easy on the eye to maintain.
