Arsenal get immediate VAR verdict as Atletico penalty 'a stain on Champions League'
Arsenal have been told that a penalty awarded against them in their Champions League semi-final first leg with Atletico Madrid would not have been awarded in the Premier League. The entire HBO Max commentary team were unanimous that the penalty given against Ben White was harsh.
However, Darren Fletcher, Ally McCoist and Steven Gerrard all agreed that VAR would have felt compelled to rule that way due to the spot-kick given on Tuesday night during the 5-4 thriller between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. In Paris, PSG were given a controversial chance from 12 yards when Alphonso Davies was deemed to have intentionally handballed a cross from Ousmane Dembele, who stepped up to score.
Just 24 hours later, White was the culprit while Arsenal led 1-0. A shot from the edge of the box hit the floor before bouncing back up and hitting the defender's arm.
Atletico players immediately appealed but their complaints were initially waved away by referee Danny Makkelie. However, he was swiftly told to walk over to the pitchside VAR monitor and the decision was overturned.
And similar to how Viktor Gyokeres opened the scoring, Julian Alvarez left no doubt when he fired past David Raya.
But on TNT Sports' commentary, Steven Gerrard said: "I think when your arm is away from your body, even if you don't mean it, at this level, in this competition, I think they're given. I don't think it's a penalty in the Premier League but there you go."
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Co-commentator McCoist added: "Is there any contact off his left leg? I doubt it. I don't think it. I really don't like it. I'm not sure there's no contact off his leg, you know."
McCoist later noticed the contact with White's hand and agreed with Gerrard's viewpoint.
Jamie Carragher then posted on social media: "The champions league is the best football by a mile, but these penalty decisions for handball really are a stain on the competition. Last nights was worse but that should not be a penalty against White."
Arsenal were awarded their own spot-kick in the first half, when Gyokeres was barged to the floor by David Hancko after some neat play by Martin Zubimendi and Martin Odegaard.
But despite the furious protests by the home players, there was little to complain about before the Swede dusted himself off and put the Gunners into the lead.
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