After the absurd penalty given to Mbappé, UEFA's shocking decision with VAR

This Tuesday Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle were the protagonists of one of the most interesting matches of the Champions League group stage. Both teams are in Group E, the most even and difficult of all, and needed a win to get closer to the round of 16 of the tournament.

Things started well for The Magpies, who scored the opener 24 minutes into the first half through Alexander Isak. The Swedish striker took advantage of a mistake by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and only had to push the ball into the net. The minutes passed and the English side were close to victory, until something unexpected happened.

In the seventh minute of stoppage time, Ousmane Dembélé tried to pass into the box, the ball hit Valentino Livramento's chest and then bounced off his arm. Initially, Simon Marciniak did not consider it to be a foul, but the VAR intervened and recommended that he review the situation again. The Polish referee did so and changed his decision, allowing PSG to score the equaliser through Kylian Mbapppé.

This was considered by the press, fans and former players as a wrong decision that hurt Newcastle. Some went even further and considered it a "robbery". Coach Eddie Howe said afterwards, at the press conference: "Yes, I do (have a sense of injustice). It wasn't the right decision in my opinion. I feel it is a poor decision and it's hugely frustrating for us".

What happened next?

The official in charge of the VAR who indicated to Marciniak that it had been handball was Tomasz Kwiatkowski. He was supposed to do the same job in Wednesday's match between Real Sociedad and RB Salzburg, but this will not happen. Surprisingly, UEFA decided to make a last-minute change and replace Kwiatkowski with Germany's Marco Fritz. For many this is considered a punishment from UEFA to Kwiatkowski for his mistake in PSG - Newcastle.