Alan Shearer has shared what UEFA have told him about the VAR controversy during the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United.
The Newcastle United legend has said that he has spoken to UEFA about the controversial penalty decision that went against Eddie Howe’s side.
So, what has Alan Shearer said about Newcastle United, VAR, UEFA and Paris Saint-Germain? Let’s take a look.
What’s the story?
Well, Newcastle United played out a 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain away from home in UEFA Champions League Group F on Tuesday evening.
Aleksander Isak scored for Newcastle in the 24th minute after Miguel Almiron’s effort was pushed to the striker’s feet.
PSG found the equaliser in the eighth minute of injury time when Kylian Mbappe scored from the penalty spot.
The penalty was awarded after review by the VAR, with referee Szymon Marciniak consulting the pitchside monitor before ruling that Tino Livramento had handled the ball inside the box.
However, television replays showed that the ball had hit Livramento’s chest first. The Newcastle player could do nothing about it.
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There was widespread criticism of the decision, and rightly so. It was a truly bad one, one of the worst of the season so far.
Newcastle legend and BBC Sport pundit Alan Shearer has now disclosed what UEFA have told him about it.
Gary Lineker said on The Rest is Football podcast: “This is the morning after the night before, we are recording this on the Wednesday.
“I think it’s safe to say that Newcastle were robbed last night. You went very quiet on our group chat about from one endless rant.”
Shearer said: “Gaz, you know I like a good swear every know and again. That was a disgrace. That’s as polite as I can be.”
Lineker noted: “I can’t work out quite how anyone could see how that was a penalty, it quite clearly came off his leg first and flicked his elbow.
“It was almost because it was right at the end of the game, they had been getting a lot of stick from the supporters in Paris and whether they were influenced in that I don’t know, but I understand Alan you have been in touch with UEFA this morning.
Shearer shared: “I spoke to them this morning and to be fair to them, they were as angry as we were, they were as disappointed as what we were in the decision and they said that the referee and the VAR knew straight away after the game that they had made a huge error and they would no longer be involved in the games this evening [Wednesday] or in the next round of games which are in two weeks’ time, they will be off those games as well. But they won’t be commenting and it was okay for me to say that.”
Newcastle United deserved more against Paris Saint-Germain
In my opinion, Newcastle United deserved more than what they got against Paris Saint-Germain. I believe that the Magpies deserved all three points.
Yes, PSG went close to scoring from open play on a number of occasions, but the refereeing call that went against Newcastle was never a penalty. Livramento was innocent. He could do nothing about the ball hitting his chest and then his arm.
Newcastle are now third in UEFA Champions League Group F. They have picked up five points from five matches. Borussia Dortmund are at the top with 10 points, while PSG are third with seven. AC Milan are fourth with five points.