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VAR made a controversial debut in the UEFA Champions League during Wednesday’s match between Real Madrid and Ajax in the first leg of the Round of 16. Tagliafico scored the opening goal for the Dutch team yet referee Damir Skomina was required to review the play on the screen and ultimately he disallowed the goal because of an offside position by Tadic.
After the game, UEFA posted two tweets explaining why Skomina made the right call.
preventing him from playing or being able to play the ball – as the header was being made. This was in line with VAR protocol and the goal was correctly overturned and a free-kick given for offside.
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 13, 2019
It’s clear that Ajax fans will still be angry about this call. Some of them said that Tadic was not the one making contact or even that Courtois was not going to be able to reach the ball anyway. However, it’s also obvious that this is the right call, even if it’s hard to tell without watching the replay, that being the main reason why not a single Real Madrid player complained after initially conceding the goal.