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Arsene Wenger laments Champions League calls after VAR arrival

Arsene Wenger questions a decision during Arsenal's loss to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena
Image: Arsene Wenger has outlined a number of key Champions League decisions Video Assistant Referees could have changed

Arsene Wenger believes Video Assistant Referees could have helped Arsenal win the Champions League in 2006 and impacted last season's exit to Bayern Munich.

The Arsenal boss believes the introduction of the new technology at the Confederations Cup is positive for football, but too little too late for some controversial European decisions against his side.

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FIFA's chief officer of technical development, Marco van Basten, believes VAR will help the integrity of the game

Wenger's side were knocked out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage when they lost 10-2 to Bayern on aggregate, but a controversial red card for Laurent Koscielny in the second leg remains one of the key decisions the Arsenal manager still laments following the arrival of VAR.

"I would choose Barcelona's equaliser in the 2006 Champions League final because it was offside, and we were 1-0 up with 30 minutes to go," Wenger told Arsenal Player, when asked which refereeing decisions he would have liked VAR to change.

"That's the trophy I miss here, you know, so that is for me the most important one.

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 07:  Laurent Koscielny of Arsenal (C) reacts as he is shown a red card by referee Anastasios Sidiropoulos and is sent off during th
Image: Laurent Koscielny of Arsenal (centre) was shown a red card in Arsenal's second-leg 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich

"The second one I would choose is the second yellow card for Robin van Persie at Barcelona in 2011, because this was the moment we were qualified against a very strong team, and it was a very difficult decision to accept - it basically killed our chances.

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"After that maybe I go to a more recent decision - against Bayern Munich when Koscielny was sent off for a penalty when Lewandowski was offside. That just comes to my mind now but maybe I forget many, many, many, many more."

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