Vladimir Putin's team dumped out of Europe after VAR rules out last minute goal

dailystar.co.uk:

Vladimir Putin was left disappointed as Zenit St Petersburg were dumped out of the Europa League by Real Betis.Zenit travelled to the Benito Villamarin stadium needing to overturn a 3-2 deficit from the reverse fixture in Saint Petersburg.

But unlike the first leg at the Gazprom Stadium, the goals were not forthcoming in Betis, as the La Liga giants managed to protect the lead they had amassed in Russia.

Ukrainian flags were dotted across the stadium in a show of defiance after Russian forces launched a ‘full-scale invasion of Ukraine’ in the preceding days.And if that was not enough for Putin to swallow, VAR’s intervention after Dmitri Chistyakov thought he had forced extra-time, would have surely left the president spitting feathers.Chistyakov header in the dying stages would have levelled the tie on aggregate and kept Zenit in the Europa League.Unfortunately for Zenit, and Putin, VAR spotted an Aleksandr Erokhin foul on Betis’ Guido Rodriguez in the build-up to the goal.While Putin is hardly known for being a season ticket holder, it is believed that he is a Zenit fan.In the past, he has been heard commenting on the team’s progress and the performances of their players and managers.His allegiance became known when he mocked previous comments from Zenit club president Sergey Fursenko after he described the club’s playing style as a “truly Russian game”."You've got eight foreigners running across the pitch, playing for Zenit in the Europa League, well done,” Putin said in 2018."And two Russian citizens; and the goalkeeper – that’s three.

It’s very interesting what you’ve told us.”However, Putin would not have been laughing after Zenit tumbled out of an elite competition for the second time in a matter of months.While.