Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has likened modern football to a "computer game". He made this after claiming that Daizen Maeda was removed from the field for no apparent reason after VAR's intervention in his team's 6-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid.
Maeda received a yellow card which was changed to a red card after a VAR review in the middle of the first half at the Estadio Metropolitano, Madrid. But Rodgers felt the referee had made the right decision at first.
The Japanese player put his foot in a tandem duel with Mario Hermoso, who was later injured while continuing the game.
Previously, Celtic was 0-1 behind because of Antoine Griezmann's goal. However, when Atletico took advantage of the number of players, the hosts grew even more. Griezmann and Alvaro Morata each scored two goals, while Samuel Lino and Saul Niguez also scored Atletico's goal in the second half.
"I think red cards are a big turning point. We started well, full of confidence, into some really good areas. Then we lost players quickly, which was a huge disappointment because I felt it was not a red card," said Rodgers.
"When you watch the re-record, the two players touch each other's feet. The referee saw it during the game and then he was asked to see it," he said.
"The first image he saw doesn't reflect the real challenge. You planted the seeds when the first image he saw was Daizen Maeda's feet on top, but it wasn't a serious obstacles and it was a very soft red card," he added.
"For a team that comes here with 11 against 11, you have to be in your best form to get something out of the game, and losing a player quickly makes it a real challenge, and we get tired and they score some fantastic goals," said Rodgers.
Rodgers was angry with his reaction on the Atletico bench after the Maeda incident had an argument with coach Diego Simeone. Then six or seven of his colleagues ran into the technical area to protest.
"They will play games, they are clearly trying to get our players removed from the field. Listen, everyone remains in the hands of the referee. When you go to Europe and a place like this that is an emotional stadium, everyone will add to the pressure," said Rodgers.
"The referee saw him in time and didn't take him seriously, but football now feels like a computer game. So many screen visits, so much influence in the game," said Rodgers.
"Over time, you see the influence of VAR and the difficulties faced by the referee. There are many judgments that occur off the field. Not so much technology, but how the technology is applied. This is not something I enjoy," said Rodgers.
"When it was first introduced, I really wanted to support it and hoped it would improve the game, because I think everyone thinks that VAR utopia will make us lose all these bad decisions," said Rodgers.
"But you can think there are now more. There is a good percentage where it feels not true in the game," complained Rodgers.
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Rodgers maintains a 4-3-2 formation after a red card, where he put Oh kue-gyu in the second half.
"You've seen quite a lot of my teams at home," he said. "When we lose players, it's about maintaining structure. Listen, you can have whatever structure you want, it can be very difficult to fight opponents at such a level. It just doesn't work for us, so we have to accept the results."
Celtic are still at the bottom of Group E but have not been eliminated from the Champions League, although they need to beat Lazio and Feyenoord and hope Atletico will provide assistance in order to stay in Europe by the end of the year.
"We knew we had to get something out of this game, but with Lazio's win too, our goal with two games remaining is to get points and see if we can improve the total points last season," explains Rodgers.
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