OL can’t digest their elimination in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League by Chelsea (0-1, 1-2, 4 pens) on Thursday, after a penalty awarded in added time in extra time while the referee, called by the VAR, had initially whistled nothing.
OL cannot digest the scenario of their elimination in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League on Thursday at Chelsea. Beaten 0-1 at home in the first leg, the Lyonnaises thought they could hold their feat by leading 0-2 on the English field in the attack of additional time in extra time. On a last messed up ball in the area, Lauren James collapsed after a duel with Vicki Becho (120th + 2). Croatian referee Ivana Martincic said nothing, letting the game play out… before being called by the video assistant.
After long minutes of consultation, she finally designated the penalty spot, believing that the Lyon striker had hit the foot of her English counterpart, unbalanced by a tripped leg. Norway’s Maren Mjelde converted the penalty and sent her team to penalties where Chelsea eventually won. What the Lyon clan does not accept.
Aulas compares this failure to Eindhoven 2005
“I think it’s always difficult to go back on a fact of the game which obviously is questionable, plagues the president Jean-Michel Aulas, on the club’s website. The referee does not see the penalty, the VAR calls it back to the club. ‘ order and after it are the interpretations. It brings back sad memories in Eindhoven.” The manager is referring to the 2005 Men’s Champions League quarter-final second leg when Nilmar missed a penalty in extra time before his side were eliminated on penalties.
“When we make all the effort they make to beat Chelsea in regulation time, we really have a feeling of injustice and that erases the positive aspects of the evening, adds the president. It was a feat that s turned into a nightmare.”
If Aulas tackles the VAR, Sonia Bompastor, coach of the Lyonnaises, believes that there was not even a fault. “Unfortunately there was the intervention of the VAR which came to spoil all this good work, she regrets. I reviewed the images, I continue to think that there was no penalty, I m relies on my experience as a former player. James is waiting for that. What is frustrating is that the referee does not whistle and it is the VAR who calls on her. Having reviewed the images, for “I don’t have a penalty. James is playing with experience, she tries it and she gets what she wanted. The situation is clear, there is a lot of disappointment and frustration in the locker room.”
