Inter 0-1 Liverpool – Capello slams ‘scandalous penalty’ for ‘obvious simulation’ | OneFootball

Former Milan and England head coach Fabio Capello has slammed the decision to award Liverpool a late, and decisive, penalty in the 1-0 win over Inter at San Siro, calling it ‘scandalous’ after a VAR review granted the visitors the penalty for what the Italian describes as ‘obvious simulation.’

Speaking on Sky Sport after the match, Capello said that “It is a scandalous penalty – I don’t understand why the VAR had to intervene when the referee saw it all, the obvious simulation of throwing himself to the ground.”

MILAN, ITALY – DECEMBER 09: Lautaro Martinez of FC Internazionale disputes with Referee Felix Zwayer during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD6 match between FC Internazionale Milano and Liverpool FC at Stadio San Siro on December 09, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

The match had already had its fair share of VAR drama after a Liverpool goal was disallowed earlier in the game for a handball. However, the Reds benefited from the video assistant’s intervention in the end, when Bastoni was judged to have pull the shirt of Florian Wirtz.

Inter 0-1 Liverpool – Capello ‘doesn’t understand’ VAR

Capello had more criticism of the officiating this evening, saying “I don’t understand VAR tonight at all, it took 3 minutes to disallow a clear handball goal.”

Finally, the retired coach hit out at the ‘shameful’ decision, which sees Inter drop to fifth in the table, now a point behind Serie A rivals Atalanta who have leapfrogged the Nerazzurri tonight with an impressive 2-1 victory against Chelsea.

MILAN, ITALY – DECEMBER 09: Dominik Szoboszlai of Liverpool FC scores their team’s first goal during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD6 match between FC Internazionale Milano and Liverpool FC at Stadio San Siro on December 09, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

“And they called the referee for a shirt tug that means we’d have a million penalties per game. They set a precedent and it is shameful,” Capello concluded.

Inter now face over a month wait until their next Champions League game, when they welcome high-flying English giants Arsenal to San Siro.