Ancelotti is right: City scored an irregular goal! But VAR is right also: there was no ground to disallow it

The match was not nearly as exciting as last year's at the same venue was, but there is no shortage of controversy - Erling Haaland's father's behaviour in the Santiago Bernabeu VIP box, Bernardo Silva's tackle on Eduardo Camavinga, but mostly due to Real's complaints that Kevin De Bruyne's equalizer should not have been allowed.

Maybe it will seem strange to some, but both the Madridians and the referees are right! The goal was irregular; however, VAR could not cancel it.

What seems to be the issue?

The Belgian scored in the 67th minute and there is nothing debatable about his shot, however, the Spaniards are angry with the referees for not seeing that the ball left the boundaries of the field thirty seconds earlier. Truth be told, the human eye could hardly see if the ball went out of bounds before Bernardo Silva brought it back into the game, and only in the analysis after the first semi-final match of the Champions League, the television company beIN Sports determined, based on 3D technology, that the ball went out. It was a matter of millimeters, but it was out.

Guardiola explains why he did not make any changes: I kept the players who can keep the ball

That's why Carlo Ancelotti's anger is understandable.

"The ball went out, I saw it, but I can't understand why the referee didn't look at VAR. You have the footage, beIN showed that the ball went out. We all saw it, the 3D technology showed it... But VAR didn't see it. City's goal was should have been a corner for us, the referee didn't pay attention to many things tonight. I told him that he should give the cards to those on the field, not to us on the sidelines," said the Italian expert after the match.

Arsene Wenger, former coach of Arsenal, now the head of the FIFA body for football development, also agrees with the Italian, although the popular Professor remained reserved because he himself is not sure if there was a possibility of carrying out the check at all.

"VAR should have checked whether the goal was legal or not. In such a situation, it has to intervene. They didn't rewind the play far enough or they didn't have the potential to check whether the ball was out or not. I would say it's the latter, because VAR usually cannot check the sideline, only the baseline."

Luka Modrić also referred to the situation that preceded everything, even the disputed moment, the undecided corner that Ancelotti also mentioned.

"City's goal? The referee should have given us a corner before that, but he didn't. It's a shame..." said the Croatian.

Former football referee Ituralde Gonzalez explains that the referee Artur Soares Dias acted correctly; that is, there was no basis for VAR to disallow the goal.

"Even if the ball went a full meter outside the field, since the ball then reached Camawinga, it changed possesion. That is a technical decision that VAR does not interfere with. It is not the same play. It would have been different if Camawinga had not been taken the ball, and City then scored. In that case, yes, VAR would have intervened. The key is Camavinga's possession of the ball and the bad pass that followed," explained the Spaniard.

The referee expert of Radio Marca, Pavel Fernandez, claims the same.

"VAR couldn't react, because the English team's attack starts after Camavinga lost the ball. The video can't go back that far," explains Fernandez.

As expected, City did not comment too much on the mentioned situation.

"The ball went out? We fully trust the referees," said Rodri after the match.

City fans defend themselves and remind that Real Madrid scored an illegal goal last year in the second leg of the semi-final. More precisely, that Los Blancos scored a goal after a throw-in that should have been awarded to the Manchester team, not to the Madridian team.