Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp wants their match against Tottenham to be replayed after a significant VAR error ruled out Luis Diaz’s goal but accepts he is unlikely to get his wish.
With the score at 0-0, Diaz was flagged offside but replays showed he was actually onside although Darren England, the VAR, mistakenly believed the on-field decision had been to award the goal, leading him to tell referee Simon Hooper the check was complete.
Liverpool’s complaints promoted the publication of the audio between officials which revealed the first person to spot the mistake was the replay operator, who urged the team of officials to stop the game, but the VAR and assistant VAR repeatedly said they could not intervene because play had restarted.
Klopp felt such an unprecendented scenario required a similarly unprecedented solution.
“The audio didn’t change it at all because I was not really interested in why things happened because I knew,” he said.
“I saw the outcome, I saw goal we scored and it didn’t count so I wasn’t now waiting for the audio and sitting there hoping I’d find out how it could happen or whatever.
“Yes, it was an obvious mistake and I think there would have been solutions for it afterwards.
“If not, I can say immediately – and probably some people don’t want me to say it – not as the manager of Liverpool but, much more as a football person, I think the only outcome should be a replay. It probably will not happen.
“The argument against that will probably be if you open that gate then everybody will ask for it. I think the situation is that unprecedented – it didn’t happen before.
“I’m 56 years old and I’m absolutely used to wrong decisions, difficult decisions but something like that as far as I can remember has never happened. That’s why I think the replay would be the right thing.
“The next argument would be if it would happen again, I think a replay would be the right thing to do or the referee has the opportunity to bring both coaches together and say ‘sorry, we made a mistake, but we can sort it, that Liverpool score a goal and we start from there’.”
Asked whether the club had made – or would make – a formal request for the match to be replayed Klopp, after taking advice from his press officer, said: “We are still going through the information that we have.”
The PA news agency understands the Premier League’s stance remains the same as earlier in the week – that a replay would not be considered.
The manager stressed he did not want to single out the individuals involved for the errors made, but wanted to find a solution within the framework of the system which would prevent something similar recurring in futrure.
“What I want to say is it’s really important that as big as football is, and important as it is for us, that we really deal with it in a proper way,” he added.
“I mean that all the people involved – on-field ref, linesman, fourth official and especially now in this case VAR – they didn’t do that on purpose. We shouldn’t forget that.
“I’m not angry with any of them (the officials), not at all. It’s not only the respect, but the only thing for human beings in general is we should not go for them. It’s not allowed to go for them in any way.
“They made a mistake and they felt horrible that night, I’m 100 per cent sure. That’s enough for me. Nobody needs further punishment. We should discuss it on a completely normal basis without emotions.”
Klopp was still unhappy with some other decisions taken in the game, notably the upgrading of Curtis Jones’ yellow card to a red, and also the two yellow cards issued to Diogo Jota.
“The referee got called to the screen and saw for the first three seconds a frozen picture. I would have given immediately a red card for that picture. Then he sees the replay in slow motion and I’d have given a red card for the slow motion. But in reality it’s not a red card.
“The ref’s first decision is yellow. Then the clear and obvious mistake is showing a frozen picture and in slow motion.
“On top of that, Diogo Jota got two yellow cards for not touching a player once. That is unprecedented as well I would say.”
Jota will be available for Thursday’s Europa League visit of Belgian side Union Saint Gilloise but fellow forward Cody Gakpo, who was injured in the Spurs game, is out.
Alonso says Leverkusen can still improve as unbeaten run reaches 48 games
Xabi Alonso believes his Bayer Leverkusen side can still improve after they extended their unbeaten run to 48 matches across all competitions on Sunday, equalling Benfica's European record.
Champions Leverkusen thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in the Bundesliga to match Benfica's 48-game unbeaten run between 1963 and 1965 – a record across all competitions in Europe.
Alonso, however, still feels there is more to come.
"Our level, our consistency throughout the season is great. But we are always moving forward. We are always concentrating on the work and improving," he said.
Leverkusen, who are edging closer to an unbeaten season across all competitions, have two league matches remaining and are also set to face Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal final on May 25.
They also hold a 2-0 lead over Roma at the halfway stage of their Europa League semi-final tie, with Thursday's second leg offering them the chance to surpass Benfica's record on home soil.
"It's a big challenge, we have two [Bundesliga] games left, it will be the perfect run. We will certainly try," Alonso said.
"We still have games to play to achieve our big goals in all competitions. The next game is important for us, the second leg of the Europa League semi-final: a chance to reach the final.
"In football it's sometimes difficult to stop. You have to prepare for the next game. The next game is a big game for us. Hopefully we have the chance to be in a European final again."
Leverkusen will play Bochum and Augsburg in their final two Bundesliga games.
Should they progress to the Europa League final, they will then face either Atalanta or Marseille in Dublin on May 22, three days before the DFB-Pokal showpiece game.
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
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