Wolfsburg had VAR to thank for their quarter-final first leg victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the Women’s Champions League on Thursday night.

Dominique Janssen scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot midway through the second half for a handball from PSG defender Elisa de Almeida that wasn’t seen by the officials in real time.

Upon review, English referee Rebecce Welch pointed to the spot and showed De Almeida a yellow card. Having already been avoidably cautioned for dissent in the first half, that mean red for her.

Janssen calmly converted the penalty, rolling the ball into the bottom corner as eight-time Champions League winning goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi dived the opposite way.

PSG had earlier thought they had a penalty of their own when the impressive Sakina Karchaoui went down under pressure from Wolfsburg defender Marina Hegering. It was initially given as a foul, but when Welch consulted the pitchside monitor she changed her mind.

Shots on target were few and far between, with Janssen’s penalty one of only three between both sides. Ramona Bachmann had PSG’s best chance, forcing a save from Merle Frohms.

The second leg will take place at Wolfsburg’s Volkswagen Arena next Thursday, where the Germans will have home advantage on top of their aggregate lead.

GK: Bouhaddi (5); RB: Lawrence (7), CB: De Almeida (4), CB: Geyoro (6), LB: Karchaoui (8); CM: Hamraoui (6), CM: Jean-Francois (6), RM: Baltimore (6); AM: Bachmann (6), LM: Groenen (5); ST: Diani (6)

Subs: Fazer (6), Vangsgaard (6)

GK: Frohms (7); RB: Hendrich (7), CB: Hegering (7), CB: Janssen (7), LB: Rauch (7); CM: Oberdorf (6), CM: Lattwein (7); RM: Huth (6), AM: Roord (6), LM: Popp (7); ST: Pajor (5)

Subs: Brand (6), Jonsdottir (6), Bremer (N/A)

Player of the match – Sakina Karchaoui (PSG)

The race to buy Manchester United reached a new stage on Wednesday night as the latest deadline in the process came and went.

The Glazer family confirmed back in November a willingness to consider ‘strategic alternatives’ for the club they have owned since 2005, including the possibility of a full takeover.

Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and INEOS chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe have been the two frontrunners as the only two to go public with full takeover bids. Support for one or the other has been massively divided among fans on social media eagerly awaiting updates.

There is other interest too. However, many are for a minority stake in the club.

Overall, United officials have met with multiple suitors this month. That included a delegation representing Sheikh Jassim, while Ratcliffe personally made the trip to Old Trafford.

90min understands that improved bids from both Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have been submitted, with each in excess of £5bn – such a figure eclipses the current world record paid for a sports team, set when the Denver Broncos were bought for $4.65bn (£3.75bn) last year. The eventual sale price for Chelsea was £2.5bn, with an additional £1.75bn pledged for investment.

Sources have previously confirmed to 90min that the Glazers have been holding out for £6bn.

Ratcliffe said just this week he would not be pressured into paying over the odds.

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“The bid plans to return the Club to its former glories both on and off the pitch, and – above all – will seek to place the fans at the heart of Manchester United Football Club once more,” a statement issued on his behalf upon his opening bid last month explained.

“The bid will be completely debt free via Sheikh Jassim’s Nine Two Foundation, which will look to invest in the football teams, the training centre, the stadium and wider infrastructure, the fan experience and the communities the Club supports.

“The vision of the bid is for Manchester United Football Club to be renowned for footballing excellence, and regarded as the greatest football club in the world.”

“We would see our role as the long-term custodians of Manchester United on behalf of the fans and the wider community,” a statement from INEOS read when Ratcliffe’s initial bid was confirmed.

“We are ambitious and highly competitive and would want to invest in Manchester United to make them the number one club in the world once again.

“We also recognise that football governance in this country is at a crossroads. We would want to help lead this next chapter, deepening the culture of English football by making the club a beacon for a modern, progressive, fan-centred approach to ownership.

“We want a Manchester United anchored in its proud history and roots in the North-West of England, putting the Manchester back into Manchester United and clearly focusing on winning the Champions League.”

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On this edition of The Promised Land, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders and Rob Blanchette discuss why Harry Kane would be a better signing for Man Utd than Napoli marksman Victor Osimhen. If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!

Chelsea earned a hard fought 1-0 win over Lyon in the first leg of their Women’s Champions League quarter-final at the Groupama Stadium on Wednesday night.

The Blues will now take that narrow aggregate lead into next week’s second leg at Kingsmeadow, making them slight favourites to reach the last four of the competition.

The ever-impressive Guro Reiten scored the only goal of the game in the first half, curling a delicious first-time shot past Christiane Endler with her weaker right foot after being played in by the returning Erin Cuthbert.

Lauren James almost scored a stunning second for Chelsea before the interval, running with the ball down the right and unleashing a speculative strike with her left foot that crashed into the far post and bounced clear.

Sam Kerr didn’t see very much of the ball over the course of the 90 minutes but might have thought she could have done better with a good chance early in the second that she missed the target with.

Lyon saw more of the ball and had more shots in total. But, frustratingly for the home crowd, the eight-time winners and reigning champions lacked the cutting edge quality to breakdown a resilient Chelsea back-line that included Kadeisha Buchanan against her former club.

Delphine Cascarino did hit the post early in the second half and there was a late surge of pressure in the final stages, but the leveller never came.

The only blot on an otherwise top night for Chelsea was losing Millie Bright to injury in the first half.

GK: Endler (6); RB: Carpenter (7), CB: Gilles (7), CB: Renard (7), LB: Morroni (6); CM: Horan (6), CM: Egurrola (6), CM: Marozsan (6); RW: Cascarino (7), ST: Le Sommer (5), LW: Dabritz (6)

Subs: Bechel (6), Van de Donk (7), Bacha, (6), Malard (6), Majri (7)

GK: Berger (7); RB: Perisset (7), CB: Buchanan (8), CB: Bright (7), LB: Carter (7); CM: Leupolz (7), CM: Ingle (7); RM: James (8), AM: Cuthbert (8), LM: Reiten (8), ST: Kerr (6)

Subs: Eriksson (6), Charles (6), Rytting Kaneryd (N/A), Mjelde (N/A)

Player of the match – Kadeisha Buchanan (Chelsea)