Video Assistant Referee Spares Barcelona’s Blushes and Saves Andreas Christensen From Receiving Red Card

• Polish striker Robert Lewandoski scored two goals in the first 45 minutes to give Barcelona a healthy lead
• Jhon Mosquera was shown a yellow card after he was adjudged to have hot Andreas Christensen in the face
• Barcelona were saved from going down to 10 men after VAR suggested that referee Lawrence Visser look at the foul

Barcelona took a 3-1 lead into halftime of their Champions League game against FC Viktoria Plzeň, but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) made headlines during the first 45 minutes.

VAR was called into action after Andreas Christensen was adjudged to have brought down Jhon Mosquera in the box.

Both players were left on the ground in the box Belgian referee Lawrence Visser stood over Christensen with a red card in hand. A penalty was also given.

VAR then looked at the matter and suggested that Visser look at the footage, which suggested that Christensen wasn’t at fault.

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Replays showed that Mosquera’s flailing arm caught Christensen in the face. As a result, the Danish defender fell to the ground and took Mosquera down with him.

Visser overturned the penalty decision and the potential red card and showed Mosquera a yellow instead.

The decision came when the game was still 1-0 in Barcelona’s favour. Franck Kessie opened the scoring for the hosts before Robert Lewandowski grabbed his first of two goals in the first half.

Jan Sýkora then headed home from close range to give the visitors some hope, but Lewandowski soon made it 3-1 on the stroke of halftime.

Barcelona continued their dominance in the second half and scored a further two goals. Lewandowski grabbed his hattrick while Ferran Torres rounded off the scoring.

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Robert Lewandowski is operating on another level.

The Polish striker struck three times for Barcelona as they completed a 5-1 rout of FC Viktoria Plzeň in the UEFA Champions League.

Lewandowski’s hattrick also took him above Karim Benzema in the Champions League all-time scorers chart.