UCL 2018/2019: 5 things we learned from the second round of matchday one

The 2018/2019 Champions League group stage is in full swing, with an intriguing opening day to the season, where shocks were recorded and some big name players failed to deliver.Tournament favorites such as Barcelona and Atletico Madrid kicked off their season with victories on the opening day, while PSG and Napoli floundered. The players were not left out either, as Lionel Messi and Mauro Icardi starred, while Neymar and Harry Kane flattered to deceive.The concluding part of matchday one took place on Wednesday, and had on display the biggest clubs in Europe, such as defending champions Real Madrid, 2013 winners Bayern Munich and English giants Manchester United.Cristiano Ronaldo made his tournament debut for Juventus, which was marred in serious controversy, while Paul Pogba starred, captaining Manchester United to victory in Switzerland.Elsewhere, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich had routine victories, but Manchester City began their assault on Europe in the worst possible way, suffering a 2-1 loss at home to Lyon.As with the first matchday where some major observations were made, Wednesday's set of matches were not different. Here are five observations from the second set of matchday one Champions League group stage matches.#5 VAR is a necessity Ronaldo was given a controversial red cardAfter test runs across different leagues in Europe over the last few seasons, the Video Assistant Referee gained mainstream attention when it was featured heavily at the last World Cup hosted in Russia.Its implementation was widely applauded, and despite some controversies associated with its use, VAR helped provide clarity in otherwise contentious scenarios.Nevertheless, some associations have still rejected its use, with the Premier League voting against its adoption before the start of the season.In the Champions League, it was decided that VAR would be staved off until the quarter-finals, meaning that all group stage and second round matches would be refereed strictly on the judgement of the match officials.A lot of incidents were raised today which further increased the clamor for introduction of VAR, with the biggest episode involving the biggest player in the competition making his tournament debut for his new club.Ronaldo was sent off in rather controversial circumstances after a seemingly innocuous tap on Valencia defender Jeison Muerillo to get up as he had fallen on the ground with minimal contact from Ronaldo.After a long consultation with his assistant, referee Felix Brych decided to brandish a straight red card to Ronaldo which unless successfully appealed would see the Portuguese star miss three matches including the double header with former club Manchester United, and understandably left Ronaldo in tears.The decision predictably caused a lot of outrage online, as fans and pundits alike took time out to slam the sending off. Another incident also occured in the same match when Daniel Parejo was penalized for stamping on Emre Can's head in the box, with many believing the tackle was worthy of a red card.Also, the penalty awarded in the Manchester United match was highly controversial, as the ball struck the Young Boys full-back Kevin Mbabu on his arm when it was in its natural position.VAR is used to address four issues: goals or infringements leading to them, red card incidents, penalty incidents and mistaken identity in the awarding of a red card, and even though it still has its detractors, it would have helped eliminate most of the controversies that arose in the Champions League.

UCL 2018/2019: 5 things we learned from the second round of matchday one

#3 It was business as usual for the big boys