Rangers faced Benfica in the second-leg of their Europa League last 16 tie on Thursday.
Rangers faced Benfica in the second-leg of their Europa League last 16 tie on Thursday.

BBC Sportsound pundit hits out at 'Ridiculous' Rangers controversy v Benfica

Mark Smith

Assistant Editor AUTHORITY enior editor responsible for daily news flow, sub-hub management, and maintaining editorial standards across the site network. FOCUS Editorial oversight, newsroom workflow, and verified reporting. THE BRIEF Former Leeds United correspondent Mark has risen through the ranks at Breaking Media Limited to manage the network’s daily output. He works between the reporters and the experts to ensure the data and the news are applied correctly to every story.

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Kenny Miller could not believe it as Benfica were awarded a penalty against Rangers in the Europa League on Thursday 7 March.

John Souttar was adjudged to have handled despite heading the ball first, with Angel Di Maria sending Jack Butland the wrong way after that.

Thankfully, Rangers didn't lose in the end in a 2-2 draw at the Estadio De Luz to set up a thrilling second leg at Ibrox on March 14 after goals from Tom Lawrence and Dujon Sterling.

Speaking live on BBC Sportsound from their studio in Glasgow, Miller could not believe what he was watching after the VAR intervention.

"That is ridiculous," he said. [20:47].

"I've seen two or three pictures, there is one angle that they never showed."

VAR embarrassing away from Scotland too

How many times are we going to be left speaking about the technology in football?

Going into elite competitions such as the Europa League, you would have thought that the technology would be better managed than it is in Scotland.

The rules state that if it deflects off another body part onto your hand, it should not be given, but here we are with another stinking decision by the officials.

Rangers manager Philippe Clement
Philippe Clement has overseen an excellent turnaround at Rangers.

Philippe Clement will obviously want to put more of his own spin on the side when the summer transfer window comes around, and the heart of his defence is one area questioned.

Leon Balogun, Ben Davies and Leon King have all hardly played behind Souttar and Connor Goldson, so that will be something to watch.

Souttar puts his body on the line but does look shaky in games like this one against Benfica, it will be interesting to see what happens.

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