Many former players were disgruntled when Inter were denied a penalty in the first leg semi-final against Milan.
32 minutes, when the score was 2-0 in favor of Inter, Lautaro Martinez dribbled in the penalty area and was pushed down by Simon Kjaer. Initially, the referee gave Inter a penalty. However, Milan fans breathed a sigh of relief when VAR stepped in and reversed the decision of Mr. Jesus Manzano.
Mr. Manzano’s decision made many experts and former players unhappy. “It was definitely a penalty,” said Rio Ferdinand. Sharing the same opinion, Steve McManaman expressed surprise that the Inter player easily agreed without reacting too strongly to the referee’s decision.
Steven Gerrard said it was technically a penalty. However, the “exaggerated” phase of the impact from Lautaro’s opponent could be the reason why VAR refused to give Inter a penalty.
“The impact from Kjaer was not enough for Lautaro to react like that,” said the former Liverpool midfielder.
If conceding a third time in the first half, Milan is likely to break the game. Despite escaping the goal, coach Stefano Pioli’s army could not rise up in the second half to have even a goal to shorten the score.
In the second leg, Milan will have to win with a difference of 3 goals to have a chance to continue. With the performance of the defense and the injury of the main striker Rafael Leao, not many fans believe in the miracle for the “Rossoneri”.
In the match between Real Madrid and Man City, VAR was also controversial when it was not detected that the ball had gone over the goal line, before Man City organized an attack that led to a 1-1 equalizer.