The last 15 minutes of the 2024-25 Champions League clash between Inter and Red Star for Matchday 2 were played the old fashioned way: without VAR technology. The reason was there was a technical issue that didn’t allow it to have connection with the referee.
After the referee, German Felix Zwayer, conceded a penalty to Inter, fans and players alike were surprised when he didn’t give the go-ahead. Both Mehdi Taremi and Lautaro Martinez approached the official, asking why it was taking so long to review the action.
It turned out that the referee couldn’t receive the definitive confirmation from VAR due to a technical failure. However, instead of wasting time, Zwayer explained the situation to both coaching staffs, and proposed the possibility of finishing the match without video assistance.
With the match decided at the 80th minute, the score 3-0, and Taremi ready to take the penalty, no one objected to finishing the game without VAR. The Iranian didn’t miss and scored the fourth goal for Inter to complete the celebration for the locals.
Mehdi Taremi of FC Internazionale celebrates scoring his team’s fourth goal (Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
From that moment on, the match played out 10 minutes of regular time and 5 minutes of added time without VAR and without any issues. Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Marko Arnautovic, and Lautaro Martinez had scored the previous goals for Inter.
Champions League’s current standings
After the first day of Matchday 2, Borussia Dortmund is now at the top of the standings with two victories. With Stade Brestois and Bayer Leverkusen in second and third place, respectively.
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Meanwhile, Inter Milan is currently at the fourth place, just behind Manchester City, as they clinched a victory with a great goal by Erling Haaland. But as teams such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Liverpool are set to play tomorrow, the standings will change.
