Former Liverpool man smashes VAR screen and Rafael Benitez goes on physics rant in LaLiga chaos
In case you’re wondering how Rafael Benitez is doing back in Spain, the answer is badly.
The former Champions League-winning Liverpool manager returned home this summer with Celta Vigo, and it’s so far been refereeing controversy after refereeing controversy.
Celta are currently in the relegation zone with one win from 12, but that far from tells the story.
The Galicians have been on the wrong side of a VAR call in almost every single game this season, and their 1-1 draw with Sevilla on Saturday night was no different.
A goal up and down to ten men, Youssef En-Nesyri equalised with six minutes to play in regular time to leave the home side fuming.
Then, in the sixth and final minute of stoppage time, a coming together in the penalty box between Anastasios Douvikas and Jesus Navas appeared to show a shirt pull, and a spot-kick was awarded to Celta.
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However, after consulting his pitch-side screen, referee Alejandro Hernandez changed his mind, cancelled the penalty and then ended the match.
Baliados erupted into fury at the decision, and so did their star striker and former Liverpool man Iago Aspas, who grabbed the VAR monitor and threw it to the ground in anger after its involvement in yet another costly call against them.
Benitez was similarly livid and went on an extraordinary rant post-match.
"Force equals mass times acceleration,” he began in his press conference. “I think force is measured in newtons.
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“How much does it take to knock a person down, ten newtons? 11 newtons? Just so I know.
“Let's talk to a physicist and they can explain. And we put them in the VAR room and so we already have another person working to tell us what the force is to knock a person to the ground.
“Today with the wind maybe another calculation should have been made and it would be even more complicated."
Benitez’s fume comes after their previous match ended in similarly controversial circumstances, when they were disallowed a match-winner against high-flying Girona.
Luca de la Torre had the ball in the net with minutes to play, but it was ruled out for a push on goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.
Replays showed the former Tottenham man had already dropped the ball beforehand though, leaving Benitez to comment: “VAR comes in, but I don’t know what it is and I don’t know what they see, no one understands it. We will try to analyse the play to see if by divine inspiration we receive an explanation.”
Celta then put out a message in support, which read: “On nights like this we can only say: this competition deserves much more.
“THERE IS NOTHING that can be compared to the togetherness of this team, of this club, of Celtismo.”