Celtic stars missed too many chances in front of goal against RB Leipzig, and when you do that at the Champions League level then you are going to get punished. No surprises there. But did VAR also miss a penalty claim that should have gone in favour of the Hoops?
Missing great chances is a common theme from Celtic in the Champions League this season. Several great opportunities to score have been created and squandered in all four matches, as the Hoops have managed to find the back of the net just twice, with one them being an own goal and the other one a strike from Jota.
That ineffectiveness in front of goal was repeated again against RB Leipzig, with some saves, the woodwork, near misses, wayward shots and headers all combining to make yet another collection of ‘what if’ moments for Celtic.
Maybe the Celtic players need more shooting practice. Quite possibly it may even need a change of luck in the penalty area as that seems to be missing too at the moment too. Then there is VAR, which acted in the Hoops’ favour in the away match against RB Leipzig, but that wasn’t the case in their home tie on Tuesday.
Did VAR miss a Celtic penalty claim?
Giorgos Giakoumakis, on as a substitute for Kyogo, gave a moment of hope as he battled for a ball in the penalty area. He seemed to be held back by RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Henrichs though.
As reported by the Football Scotland, former Celtic boss, Gordon Strachan, brought up a potential penalty call from the game vs RB Leipzig, while talking on BT Sport:
"“Yep, I do think when you’re going in like that and someone grabs you and swings you it does put you off. There’s no doubt about it.“He’s coming in, he’s a big strong boy, but when you’re off balance it’s amazing what the slightest thing can do.“There’s two hands there, it’s two hands.“It’s different if he puts it just for a second and you release him again but he’s still holding him as he’s trying to head it. So I’d have been looking for a penalty.“Just as a former greetin’ face midfielder who wanted everything!”"
That’s the kind of situation when you’d expect VAR to step in and show its value. A controversial moment, have some replays from various angles for the officials to play back and review and take a calm look at what happened. Somehow though that doesn’t appear to have happened.
It may or may not have been a valid claim for a penalty. It may or may not have been converted into a goal if given. It may or may not have changed the result of the game. But we’ll never know a definitive answer now and can only wonder and question whether VAR made an error in not at least reviewing the possibility of a penalty.