On that disallowed Real Madrid goal, it appears that the video assistants decided that, although Fabinho was the last to touch the ball before it fell to Benzema, the Brazilian wasn’t deemed to have played it deliberately. The offside rule states that an attacking player in an otherwise illegal position is only played on if they receive it from a defending player who plays the ball intentionally.
There have been reports that stadium security staff tried to prevent media from videoing Liverpool fans being tear-gassed during the crowd congestion outside the Stade de France. Stats specialists Opta note that Liverpool have already had as many shots on target tonight as they did in their two previous Champions League final appearances combined.
The Liverpool defence gets itself into a frightful tangle and Benzema strokes the ball into the net – but after a long, long, long VAR check, the goal is ruled out for offside.
A long, angled ball into the Liverpool box finds the striker in space at the back stick. His control lets him down, though, and the chance appears to have been lost. Alisson should scoop the ball up, but he and Konaté get in each other’s way, and it drops back to Benzema, who rams it home.
His celebrations are cut short by an offside flag, and there is a very long wait as the video assistant checks whether it was Fabinho who played the ball to Benzema – that would have meant he wasn’t offside. In the end, though, the goal doesn’t stand.
Madrid bring it forward, Kroos spraying it wide to the right to Carvajal. His ball into the Liverpool box isn’t the best, though, and the Reds get it clear. They look to get Díaz bustling forward down the left wing, but Carvajal atones for his poor ball a moment ago by outpacing the Colombian to win it back.
— Chirag Godara (@iChiragg) May 28, 2022