Former Liverpool star Luis Garcia has hit out at VAR following Liverpool’s first leg defeat to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

The Reds will have to come from behind at Anfield next month if they’re to reach Wembley after falling to just a second defeat of the season in controversial circumstances.

Lucas Bergvall scored the only goal of the game late on in the second half, although Liverpool boss Arne Slot and his coaching staff were left furious that the midfielder had been allowed to stay on the pitch. Just moments before scoring the winner, Bergvall slid in late on Kostas Tsimikas while already on a yellow card, and somehow managed to avoid a second booking.

That though wasn’t the incident that raised Garcia’s ire, with the former forward instead irked by another moment during the closing stages of the game.

Deep into stoppage time, with Liverpool looking for an equalizer, Curtis Jones was caught in the back of the leg by Dejan Kulusevski inside the penalty area. Referee Stuart Atwell chose not to give a penalty, with VAR choosing to uphold the call.

That decision has added to the controversy from the game for Liverpool fans, with Garcia insisting VAR should have intervened.

“Things I don’t understand nowadays with VAR. Just check it!!,” the former Liverpool star posted on X.

The game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium did see a new development for VAR in English football, with an overturned decision being announced to the crowd by the referee for the first time after Dominic Solanke’s second-half strike was ruled out for offside.

Although the introduction of the new system for the semi-finals has been hailed by some, Slot didn’t really see the point, with it clear to most why Solanke’s goal had been ruled out.

“I think you can’t judge something on one game but if it’s offside then I don’t think anyone had to explain something. When he started explaining something, you saw a red and a blue line.

“I think it would be more interesting for everyone if he would’ve explained why he didn’t give a second yellow card than explaining why he cancelled the goal, because that’s what everybody could see on the screen.

“But I know that’s not the rule. It’s the rule to have these decisions when the VAR is involved, and the VAR was of course not involved in yes or no [for] a second yellow. In general, I think let’s judge this not on an evening. Let’s judge this if we see this a few more times.”