VAR used in Spanish football for first time

TANGIER, MOROCCO (Reuters) - The video assistant referee (VAR) was used for the first time in Spanish football on Sunday to award midfielder Pablo Sarabia with Sevilla's opening goal against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup.

(Reuters)

Referee Carlos Cerro del Grande deferred to the video assistants to ensure Sarabia was not in an offside position when he latched on to Luis Muriel's pass to give Sevilla a surprise lead against La Liga and King's Cup holders Barcelona in the ninth minute in the Super Cup game in Tangier, Morocco.

The use of VAR was hailed as a success at the 2018 World Cup and has been approved for use in La Liga this season, following Germany's Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A which introduced the technology last year.

(Reporting by Richard Martin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)