Celta de Vigo coach Rafael Benítez has expressed strong words about VAR during the home match with Sevilla. Celta thought they were awarded a late penalty by referee Alejandro Hernández, but on the advice of VAR, he reversed that decision.
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Hernández pointed to the spot in the final stages following a tussle between former FC Utrecht striker Anastasios Douvikas and Sevilla defender Jésus Navas, but to the fury of Celta, the referee decided to reverse his decision on the advice of VAR.
Benítez was livid about that decision. "Force equals mass times acceleration," the Celta coach accompanied his criticism with an unorthodox explanation. "A physicist needs to be in the VAR room to measure force."
The former manager of teams including Valencia, Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Internazionale deemed it a clear foul by Navas. "Or was it the wind moving the shirt? If I show this to UEFA, I'm sure they'll say: 'What is this?' If I have to go to a UEFA meeting again, I will ask for an explanation again. I don't understand it anymore. So many goals of ours have been disallowed. We should have had eight or nine more points."
Celta stands eighteenth in La Liga after the draw. "This penalty is reversed because someone in an office thinks they can judge the intensity of a foul. That I don't understand," said Benítez. Celta veteran Iago Aspas was also furious and vented his frustration on the VAR monitor between the dugouts after the draw with Sevilla.
Updated: 03:25, 6 Nov 2023
