'A red all day long!': Salah shockingly escapes sending off for UCL horror tackle (PHOTOS/VIDEO)

Liverpool's star forward Mohamed Salah remarkably went unpunished after a nasty over-the-top challenge went unnoticed by both the match referee and VAR officials during the UEFA Champions League tie versus Porto.

Salah was looking to break into the penalty area in search of a third Liverpool goal during his side's UEFA Champions League quarter-final first-leg victory over FC Porto when the ball broke clear and he stretched to challenge Porto defender Danilo.

But while the Porto man deflected the ball clear of danger, Salah's challenge connected over the top of the ball, as he crashed studs-first into the shin of the Brazilian international.

The challenge may have been missed by the officials, but it wasn't missed by the world's broadcasters who showed slow-motion replays of the dangerous challenge - or by the fans on social media, who shared their take on the Egyptian's nasty-looking challenge.

Liverpool fan Stu Milligan admitted his side was incredibly lucky not to have seen their star man dismissed for the challenge, tweeting: How on earth have we still got 11 men on the pitch? That Salah tackle was a red all day long."

Another Twitter user suggested it was an example of bias by officials towards the Anfield club, tweeting: "How is that not a red for Salah? Never in my life have I seen a club like Liverpool have so much go their way, absurd."

Real Madrid fan @Ultra_Suristic suggested the referee may have acted differently had the challenge been by Danilo on Salah, rather than the other way around.

Manchester United fan account @TheManUtdWay used the incident to highlight the basic flaw with VAR; the fact that it still comes down to the opinions of the human beings using it.

And, as the internet's non-Liverpool fans took to Twitter to sound off about Salah's challenge, @MoSalahFacts dived into the GIF pool for the perfect animation to illustrate the furore around the Egyptian's challenge.