- City were awarded a penalty in the 13th minute of Tuesday鈥檚 first-leg tie by VAR
- Vertonghen has urged the decision-makers to think like footballers
LONDON: Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen says defenders will have to adapt to VAR after the latest controversial incident in the Champions League quarterfinal win against Manchester City.
City were awarded a penalty in the 13th minute of Tuesday鈥檚 first-leg tie at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when Raheem Sterling鈥檚 shot hit Danny Rose鈥檚 arm.
None of the players appealed at the time and it was only after the VAR official advised Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers to review the incident that the spot-kick was given, in line with UEFA鈥檚 directive on the handball law.
Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris ensured that it was not a potentially decisive moment, saving Sergio Aguero鈥檚 tame effort from 12 yards before the hosts went on to win 1-0.
Vertonghen has urged the decision-makers to think like footballers, saying he feared there could be a huge increase in penalties awarded once VAR is up and running in the Premier League next season.
鈥淚 think we have to change the way we defend,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are not pulling people down but even a small touch, if you watch it 20 times in slow motion, it will give so many more penalties.
鈥淚 think you鈥檒l see in the stats in the next few years in the Premier League, you will see at least 20, 30, 40 more penalties.
鈥淚 think we all need to adapt 鈥� the players, the referees and how they think as a player sometimes.
鈥淪ometimes you can鈥檛 do anything else than put your body on the line and I don鈥檛 even know, but it鈥檚 important that referees think as a football player sometimes.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 even touch anyone. Before it was quite physical, but in a fair way. But now you are too scared to get close to someone.鈥�
Rose said the ball hit his arm but said he did not believe his arm was 鈥渙utside his body.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure I can complain,鈥� he added. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 seen it again. It did hit my arm but it certainly wasn鈥檛 intentional.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 just grateful Hugo saved it and we kept a massive clean sheet, scored at the end and have something to look forward to next week.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unnatural to try to defend a shot with your arms behind your back and I鈥檓 not sure that鈥檚 something the manager would be promoting. But there鈥檚 not much I can do, I have to learn from it.鈥�
Liverpool cruised to a 2-0 victory in their quarterfinal clash against FC Porto on Tuesday. (AFP)
Meanwhile, elsewhere on Tuesday, Liverpool built a 2-0 lead over Porto heading into the second leg of the quarterfinals thanks to first-half goals by Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino at Anfield on Tuesday.
鈥淧ositive, good, we won 2-0 ... we controlled the game, had direction of the game,鈥� said Klopp, whose only criticism of his players was for the number of free kicks they gave away in dangerous areas. 鈥淲e knew we had to play the second game and we cannot decide the tie tonight.鈥�