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Pep Guardiola believes VAR will end up benefiting Manchester City due to the amount of time they spend in opposition penalty areas.

The Blues had a Gabriel Jesus goal ruled out for a fractional offside at West Ham last weekend, but also saw Sergio Aguero ’s missed penalty re-taken as the video ref spotted encroachment by Declan Rice.

And last season his team had a crushing moment when what appeared to be a late dramatic winner in the Champions League quarter-final against Tottenham was ruled out for another marginal offside.

Guardiola made reference to that, saying that VAR “f***ed us in the Champions League last season.”

But, in an interview with Gol via Cano Football, he felt that attacking teams like City could benefit from the application of technology.

“We saw it in the first minutes of Champions League final with the penalty awarded after a few seconds,” he said. “But this isn’t just a question of VAR - the more you attack, the more chances there are of these things happening and goals being scored.

“Although, I remember qualifying for the Champions League final in 2009 with Andres’ shot being our only effort on goal all night, then three years later, we had 30-odd shots and we were out.

(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

“Seriously though, it’s just a question of possibilities. If we attack more, with the ball always further away from our goal then there is no reason more logical that we win more than we lose. I want to live in the opponent’s half. I feel more secure that way.”

After the win at West Ham, Guardiola touched on the fact that VAR could also affect teams’ mindsets, referencing the way West Ham lifted their game after Jesus’ tap-in had been ruled out.

And in the interview, he expanded on that idea: “It already f***ed us last season in the Champions League. It can knock the wind out of your sails when you’re celebrating to be told the goal is disallowed, but it can have the opposite effect if it works in your favour,” he said.

“The best action in football is always the next one. You can’t just live in the present, you must always be preparing for the next action.

“VAR is a fantastic demonstration of this. I hope it brings justice to the game. If people cannot accept the decision of the VAR team then we may as well just get rid of it now. ”