Manchester United vs Young Boys: Valencia boss rages at lack of VAR after Marouane Fellaini's 'handball' winner

United's win consigned Valencia to a third-place finish and a group stage elimination

Mark Critchley
Northern Football Correspondent
Wednesday 28 November 2018 08:27 GMT
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Marcelino, the Valencia manager, has lamented the lack of VAR in this year's Champions League after a Marouane Fellaini's controversial Manchester United winner.

Fellaini appeared to handle the ball before scoring a stoppage-time goal in United's 1-0 Group H victory over Young Boys at Old Trafford.

United's win consigned Valencia to a third-place finish and a group stage elimination, following their 1-0 defeat to Juventus in Turin the same evening.

Had Fellaini's goal been disallowed, Valencia and United would have played for Group H's runners-up spot in their final group game at the Mestalla on 12 December.

“If the goal of Manchester United featured a handball then you become even angrier," Marcelino said on Tuesday night.

"The little details matter. What is strange is that VAR isn’t present in such a big competition. It’s no consolation to us. But this is football.

“We wanted to continue in the Champions League,” he added. "It is a very important competition. When we have to play the Europa League we will do so with the aim of reaching as far as possible.”

Fellaini denied deliberately handling the ball when asked about his goal after United's victory. The Belgium international told BT Sport: "If it touched my hand it was not on purpose."

VAR is set to be introduced to the Champions League from the start of the 2019-20 season, though officials recently claimed the video review system could be implemented in the latter rounds of this year's competition.

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