Cards on the table, Celtic lost in Feyenoord last night not because of the referee or VAR, but both sets of officials certainly didn’t help.
Celtic were already 1-0 down when Gustaf Lagerbielke conceded a penalty and got himself a second yellow card as the Hoops went down 2-0 to the Dutch champions.
But it was the decision by VAR not to overturn the decision that got BBC pundit, Michael Stewart’s back up.
Stewart was left seriously unhappy with the VAR officials as he took to social media channel X last night.
The BBC pundit raged, “Embarrassing from the officials. What’s the point in VAR if you can’t recognise that’s the wrong decision.”
Did VAR fail Celtic against Feyenoord?
Look, at the time, I thought the decision was harsh, but the reality is, when a player is on a yellow card it’s up to them to ensure that they don’t give the referee a decision to make.
Lagerbielke left himself open to a second yellow after the referee marked his card in the first half. But having said that, did VAR not do its job last night?
Putting your arm across any attacker whilst they are bearing down on goal is just inviting trouble. Especially in Europe. Players on the continent are very cute when it comes to winning free kicks and penalties and the young Swede was caught out last night.
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But if VAR looked at properly and offered the footage to the referee to review, then maybe, just maybe, the decision could have went the other way.
As it stands now, Celtic are still well in the competition. Yes a defeat is a sore one to take but it was always going to do down to the home games at Celtic Park to determine whether or not Celtic progressed.
So it is still in Brendan Rodgers’ hands. Next up is Lazio who will be buoyed after their last-minute equaliser against Atletic Madrid in Rome.
In other news, ‘I said to them afterwards’: Brendan Rodgers’ message to the Celtic players after loss vs Feyenoord