Arsenal FC news: Arsene Wenger picks three key decisions VAR could have changed in the Gunners’ recent history
Arsene Wenger has revealed three key moments in Arsenal’s history which he feels could have been different had the use of Video Assistant Referees been in place.
The use of VARs has caused much debate in recent days, after being trialled in England’s friendly defeat at France and then in the Confederations Cup in Russia.
It has already seen big decisions overturned during matches, but those calls remain a talking point amongst fans and between pundits during post-match analysis.
The system has already been used five times at the tournament - four of them relating to offside calls and one for a handball in the run up to a goal - and FIFA says it is ‘the future of football’.
Wenger was discussing the topic with Arsenal Player and he does not know why it has taken so long for football to implement technology in the modern game.
He was asked to pick three moments that could have changed the outcome of a match. Wenger says a trophy is still missing from the north Londoners’ trophy cabinet and it could have been much different with the use of VAR.
See what he picked below…
1. Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal, 2006 Champions League final
AW: “I would choose Barcelona’s equaliser in the 2006 Champions League final because it was offside, and we were 1-0 up with 30 minutes to go.
“That’s the trophy I miss here, you know, so that is for me the most important one.”
2. Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal (4-3 agg), 2010/11 Champions League round of 16
AW: “The second yellow card for Robin van Persie at Barcelona, because this was the moment we were qualified against a very strong team, and it was a very difficult decision to accept - it basically killed our chances.”
3. Arsenal 1-5 Bayern Munich (2-10 agg), 2016/17 Champions League round of 16
“After that maybe I go to a more recent decision - against Bayern Munich when Laurent Koscielny was sent off for a penalty when Lewandowski was offside.
“That just comes to my mind now but maybe I forget many, many, many, many more.”
