Referees

As Manchester United wildly celebrated two ludicrously self-inflicted PSG errors and a contentious, VAR-influenced handball decision to advance to the last eight of Europe (we won’t begrudge Red Devil supporters after the life and times of David Moyes, LVG and Jose Mourinho, but if you thought Liverpool fans were getting annoying with the EPL title at hand, this is a stern reminder that United’s fanbase is built of the exact same stuff), PSG was left to rue another night of historical ineptitude. 

It’s easy to be critical of the Premier League thinking its referees are good enough to not need the help of video replay to get calls right. So we’ll do just that. The North London Derby highlights were marred by two penalty calls that VAR never would have allowed, resulting in a 1-1 draw between Tottenham and Arsenal on Saturday at Wembley Stadium.

The result meant the end to Spurs’ remarkable run of 35 Premier League matches without a draw, a Premier League record.

The Video Assistant Referee is in use in the Champions League Round of 16 for the first time this week. So of course conspiracy theorists are already hard at work trying to figure out the Ajax disallowed goal that helped Real Madrid grab a 2-1 away win in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 on Wednesday. 

UEFA, thankfully, is smarter than the English FA and decided to start using VAR for the Champions League in the Round of 16 instead of waiting for next season. The first two matches Tuesday were without controversy and the VAR was not required. 

Alvaro Morata had to leave Chelsea — he really had no choice after his form and confidence seemingly dissipated after a slew of shocking missed opportunities. So he returned to Madrid, where he started his professional career back nearly 10 years ago. Except, he joined Atletico, not Real. 

It’s fair to say that Liverpool did not enjoy Monday night's match against West Ham.

Going 1-0 up after 22 minutes through Sadio Mané, Liverpool struggled to clinch an important victory in the Premier League title race. Michail Antonio scored just six minutes later, and Liverpool could not respond.

West Ham on the other hand, should be happy the performance against Liverpool was a lot better than in recent matches and against the league leaders no less. West Ham’s manager, Manuel Pellegrini, was less than impressed with Liverpool’s goal and with Jurgen Klopp.

Will the 2019 Women’s World Cup use VAR? That’s the question on the minds of the countless players and coaches preparing for this summer’s tournament. 

About four months away from the start of the competition, FIFA has yet to confirm whether VAR will be in use at the Women’s World Cup. 

But it’s not time to panic just yet, for a couple reasons. 

Australia, the defending champion of the AFC Asian Cup, almost came undone at the group stage of the 2019 edition due to one of the most ludicrous penalty decisions you’ll ever see at a major international tournament (as you’ll soon see, VAR is obviously not in use out in the United Arab Emirates).

After suffering a shock defeat to Jordan to open group play, a 3-0 victory over Palestine on Match Day 2 had eased the pressure on the Socceroos, but a result still needed to be secured Tuesday against Syria. 

Cristiano Ronaldo increased his goal tally to 49 for the calendar year with two goals in Juventus’ 2-1 victory over Sampdoria on Saturday. But Ronaldo’s final match of 2018 was dominated by VAR calls — both for and against the Bianconeri.

In his first season in Serie A, Ronaldo has 14 goals at the halfway mark of the season, putting him in the lead for the Golden Boot race despite a slow start to his time in Italy.