Brendan Rodgers expresses VAR frustration as Celtic boss makes 'computer game' comparison

Brendan Rodgers has compared modern football to a "computer game" after insisting Daizen Maeda was sent off in the 6-0 loss to Atletico Madrid following a needless VAR intervention.

The Celtic manager felt referee Ivan Kruzliak made the correct call initially to book the Japanese attacker for dangling out his left leg in a 50-50 challenge with Mario Hermoso, who went to ground as Maeda followed through.

However, following a VAR review midway through the first-half at the Estadio Metropolitano Maeda's yellow card was upgraded to a red with the Hoops already trailing 1-0 in the Spanish capital.

The Scottish champions went on to suffer their heaviest Champions League defeat in almost five years, with the La Liga outfit making the most of their man advantage by running riot after the interval.

Co-commentator John Hartson and fellow pundits Martin O'Neill and Owen Hargreaves unanimously agreed that Maeda's dismissal was "incredibly harsh". And Rodgers claims the still image that was shown to the referee on the pitchside monitor gave him an inaccurate idea of the incident.

He told TNT Sports: "We're clearly very, very disappointed. It was always going to be a challenge 11 vs 11 against their quality but to get a man sent off so early after we'd made a good start and looked confident and were ready to fight.

"Really, really disappointed with the sending off. I think when you see the images the referee sees it wasn't representative of the actual challenge. Both players clashed feet, kicked each other. So for us to lose a man for that was going to be really really difficult."

Asked if he thought the home side influenced the decision, Rodgers replied: "Yeah, there's no doubt. I don't want to go on about the officials, you have to accept decisions. But it feels more like a computer game, the constant looking at the screens.

"And when the referee comes over it's a still with his foot up which straight away plants a seed for the referee. And from there his influence is then to send the player off."