Why Karim Benzema’s goal against Liverpool was ruled out for offside

People were understandably confused

Karim Benzema thought he had given Real Madrid the lead over Liverpool in the Champions League final, only for his opener to be ruled out for offside. The Frenchman's strike was not awarded because he was stood in an offside position due to Alisson coming out of his goal. VAR did not overturn the referee's decision as Fabinho's touch was not intentional, which therefore meant that the Madrid frontman was regarded to be in an offside position. Benzema rounded Alisson - who was able to slightly push the ball away - before it rebounded off Ibrahima Konate and then the Brazilian goalkeeper once again. After this, it rebounded between Konate, Fede Valverde, Konate again and then Fabinho. The ball eventually dropped at the feet of Benzema, who calmly converted past Alisson. https://twitter.com/FootballJOE/status/1530648483224592391 However, the 34-year-old's strike was ruled out for offside, with referee Clement Turpin and his team deciding that the Madrid striker was beyond Alisson, although there was still a Liverpool defender between him and the goal. Rules state that there has to be two players between a player and the goal for him to not be offside - which can be a goalkeeper and an outfield player or two outfield players. The incident was referred to video assistant referee Jerome Brisard and his assistants Willy Delajod, Massimiliano Irrati and Filippo Meli. After more than three minutes of watching and examining the footage, the VAR team did not overturn the on-pitch decision. https://twitter.com/btsportfootball/status/1530647237285629957 While it remains unclear whether the ball had been passed by Valverde, with video footage appearing to show that the ball had come off Fabinho, BT Sport's Peter Walton stated that because it was a deflection from the Reds midfielder, rather than a deliberate pass, the goal was right to have been ruled out. Madrid did take the lead against the run of play in the 59th minute, with forward Vinicius Junior slotting home a smart cross from Valverde. Related links:

• Fans react to ‘bizarre’ camera angle for Champions League final in Paris
• Supporters ‘tear gassed’ and denied entry to Champions League final in Paris
• Liverpool stars annoyed at UEFA over celebration rules should they beat Real Madrid