Napoli's manager believes that the defender should have been sent off in the first half
Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti bemoaned the lack of VAR having felt Virgil van Dijk should have been sent off for his challenge on Dries Mertens in Liverpool's qualification-clinching win at Anfield.
Netherlands captain Van Dijk was booked in the 13th minute of the Reds' 1-0 victory when his studs caught Mertens' ankle after he swept the ball away in a slide tackle.
Van Dijk claimed he had won the ball cleanly but Ancelotti argued he was fortunate to remain on the pitch.
"I've seen it on the video, I think it was a red card," the Italian said.
"There were a lot of questions about VAR. When VAR comes in to the Champions League, it's too late."
Mohamed Salah's first-half goal sent Liverpool through at the expense of Napoli, who had to settle for a place in the Europa League despite accruing nine points in their Champions League group.
A draw on Tuesday would have been enough to seal Champions League progression for Napoli, who beat Liverpool in the return fixture, but Arkadiusz Milik was denied a late leveller as Alisson stood up tall to deny him from close range.
"We knew that Liverpool would put us under a lot more pressure, they were very aggressive," added Ancelotti.
"It was something we planned for, we knew the intensity was going to be a lot different from the first game we played. That was something we had to try and cope with.
"You can't expect to come to a place like Liverpool and expect to create 10 really good chances, we created one or two and didn't have the luck that we needed."
RealMd13
272
Sure its a red card 🔴 but you cant give a red card straight up in a game like this you have to understand this is a champions league match and this Particular match was a try or die for Liverpool so you have to accept that its was going to be intense and have a little bit of drama because thats the beauty of a champions league match and The UEFA champions league trophy its something klopp has been hunting for a long time and its a dream come true for the coaches, the players and The fans to win a UCL trophy and Im glad Van dijk was not sent off when he is the wall and heart ♥️ of Liverpool defense Now we wait and see who will draw who in the Round of 16 #YNWA
Rutbcdlmor
264
If this had happened against Liverpool the whole anfield would have cried for many years for it
moore8
253
Depending on the referees,but he tackled him and luckily enough he touched the ball but had he missed the ball then it would have been a direct red card fir him
SonOfPep
224
That kind tackle is kung fu. Not in football
Tintin98
223
If I'm not mistaken according to the rules if you get the ball cleanly then it's not a fault. So in this case van Dijk got the ball first cleanly and just caught Mertens later so it's not a Red Card. If he was nowhere near the ball then you can say it's red card.