Arsenal, Chelsea to Wait Till Europa Final for VAR

It's been another lively week on the VAR front in Europe, with contentious decisions and debatable penalties aplenty.

First there was the spot-kick awarded against Juventus left-back Alex Sandro in a high-profile Serie A clash against Napoli on Sunday, then the long and fairly unhelpful reviews into whether or not the ball had gone out of play in the build-up to Ajax's third goal in their terrific 4-1 upset of Real Madrid.

Then, on Wednesday evening, both Champions League last-16 ties - Paris Saint-Germain against Manchester United and Porto versus Roma - were settled by late penalty calls prompted by VAR.

Neymar dubbed the decision to award a spot-kick for handball against PSG team-mate Presnel Kimpembe as a "disgrace", while Roma president James Pallotta said the Giallorossi were "robbed" after an extra-time Alex Telles penalty that came after Alessandro Florenzi was adjudged to have pulled back Fernando.

Any Arsenal or Chelsea supporters concerned at being caught up in similar controversy during their forthcoming Europa League fixtures need not worry, however. 

  

That is because the technology will not be implemented in the competition until the final, which takes place at the Baku Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan on May 29.

And while the Champions League will feature VAR from the play-off stage onwards next season, Uefa reiterated last month that they are still not planning to extend the use of the technology to the entirety of the Europa League proper (including the group stage) until the 2020/21 campaign.