VAR proves key in its opening night at the Spanish Super Cup

The match on Sunday in Tangier wasn't just any normal Super Cup. Putting aside the exceptional circumstances that made the contest a one-off tie which was played outside of Spain, or the unlimited amount of non-EU players which could be named in the squad, it was also the first time VAR was used in Spain.

It's possible that perfection doesn't exist but no one can doubt that VAR made its presence felt at the Spanish Super Cup. It's use throughout the 90 minutes was impeccable. The concept is to create as little disruption as possible and to only be used in four instances: actions which result in a goal, penalties, red cards and cases of mistaken identity.

Yesterday Del Cerro Grande (referee), Juan Carlos Yuste, Abraham Alvarez (assistants), Martínez Munuera (fourth official), Jesús Gil Manzano (VAR referee) and Angel Nevado (assistant VAR) worked as a team. This was a result of the work put in by LaLiga and CTA which began in January this year. There have been hours of theory testing, simulators and preseason matches. Last night brought an end to that testing as it would be seen by millions of viewers.

sevilla's opening goal stood, wasn't offside

And all that work was finally rewarded. Seven minutes into the match and it was clear that Spain was "overly prepared" for VAR. Sevilla's opening goal was flagged for offside but Del Cerro, listening to Gil Manzano, immediately allowed it to stand. Any offside decisions don't require revision from the main referee. If the VAR room say the goal is legal, the offside decision is immediately made invalid.

And later there was the penalty where Del Cerro had no doubts about awarding a spot kick to Sevilla. Once again, VAR stuck to its job: minimum intervention, maximum benefit and only to be used in case of a significant error. The VAR room backed the decision made by the referee. Perhaps the only thing which Sevilla might have questioned was Ter Stegen being off his line when he saved Ben Yedder's strike.

But there's no doubt VAR's debut was a success. And while this was a good start, there's still a long way to go. The next time VAR will be used is Friday at Montilivi. And then in every other match in every other game week. VAR is here to stay.