VAR causes fierce controversy in Europa League

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was furious after Kelechi Iheanacho's goal was disallowed by VAR in their 2-0 defeat to Braga in the Europa League early on October 3.

Iheanacho's controversial tackle.

In the 54th minute at Celtic Park, Iheanacho put the ball into the Braga net after an effort to break through and finish. However, the main referee Tobias Stieler disallowed the goal because the Celtic striker let the ball touch his hand before finishing.

VAR took a long time to check, but although the camera angles showed no sign of Iheanacho handling the ball, the on-field decision stood.

This decision immediately angered the Celtic coaching staff and players. Speaking after the match, coach Rodgers was angry: "I don't know why the goal was not recognized. That was the turning point of the match. If the score had been 1-1, we would have regained our confidence. I didn't receive any explanation."

The former Liverpool manager also criticized referee Stieler for not directly reviewing the situation via the VAR screen: "Even if you watch it once or twice, or more in the VAR room, you definitely cannot conclude that the ball touched the hand. It was clear that the ball hit Iheanacho's face before he scored. It was the referee's mistake, and VAR was born to correct mistakes like that."

Having been denied an equaliser, Celtic continued to press forward but failed to capitalise on their chances. After the Braga goalkeeper made a couple of excellent saves, the Scottish side conceded a second goal as they pressed high in search of a winner.

This defeat made Celtic only gain 1 point after the first 2 matches in Europa League.

The goal that helped Muller set a record On October 2, in the 2025 Canadian Premier League final, Muller scored his 300th career goal in Vancouver Whitecaps' 4-2 win over Vancouver FC.

Source: https://znews.vn/var-gay-tranh-cai-du-doi-o-europa-league-post1590283.html