The five differences between VAR in the Premier League and the Champions League

In fact, there are a total of five concrete differences between the use of VAR in England's top flight and in the Champions League.

The first has to do with handballs in the area. For UEFA, any action which involves the ball hitting the hand in the area and changing its trajectory is deemed a penalty. However, it the Premier League, there will be much more room for interpretation.

Another important difference will take place on the side of the pitch. In the Premier League, the linesmen will still raise their flag if they consider a dangerous attack to be offside, whereas in the Champions League, the play will continue and be analysed afterwards.

In terms of the position of goalkeepers during penalties, the Premier League will not give full responsibility to VAR like the Champions League has. It will be the referee who will have to let the video assistant know if he suspects the goalkeeper has moved off his line before the penalty, whereas it works the other way round in European competitions.

The final two differences are more technical factors. In some doubtful situations, the referee will not have to go to the monitor and will be guided by VAR through his earpiece. Finally, the difference that is most important to those attending the games is that replays will be showed of decisions involving VAR, whereas in the Champions League it is only an explanation of the incident that appears on the big screen.