Tuchel criticizes officials after Bayern’s Champions League exit
Thomas Tuchel expressed strong dissatisfaction with the officiating in Bayern Munich’s Champions League semi-final clash against Real Madrid after his team was denied a late opportunity to level the score, which could have changed the outcome of the tie.
Late drama sees Bayern’s Champions League dreams shattered
Bayern Munich saw their Champions League hopes dashed as they succumbed to two late goals from Joselu, allowing Real Madrid to secure their spot at Wembley for the final in June.
However, the goals scored by the former Stoke forward were only part of the story, as the match’s defining moment came in injury time when Matthijs De Ligt appeared to score a potential equalizer for Bayern, but Polish referee Szymon Marciniak had already blown his whistle for offside just moments earlier.
Controversy surrounds disallowed goal in Bayern’s heartbreaking loss
Despite close scrutiny through replays, the decision stood, as VAR was unable to intervene due to the whistle having been blown prematurely.
This decision left Bayern and their coach frustrated, with Tuchel revealing that the assistant referee had admitted to making a mistake by raising the flag too early, as replays show that the call was extremely tight.
”That was an absolute disaster,’ the German said. ‘A violation of the rules.
”This scene must be played out to the end. That’s the rule. The linesman made the mistake, and the referee made the second mistake.
”We were almost there and a very unusual mistake of the best player for the equalizer, then we conceded in a very narrow decision in stoppage time. Then we scored one and it was a disastrous decision from the linesman and the referee, so it feels almost like a betrayal in the end because of that decision.
”The linesman said sorry. That does not help at that kind of level, to raise the flag in a decision like this, in a close decision in the last minute. The referee as well, he does not have to whistle, he sees that we win the second ball, he sees that we get the shot away. To whistle is a very, very bad decision.
”It is against the rules and it is a bad decision from both of them. It is a disaster, tough to swallow, but it is the way it is.
”Having the balls to raise the flag in a situation like that is a big mistake. And then the referee, when he saw that we won the rebound, made the decision to whistle. It wouldn’t have happened the other way round,” Tuchel said, speaking to TNT Sports after the game.
Watch the video as posted on X:
Thomas Tuchel confirms that the linesman has 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 for lifting his flag up early for their disallowed goal 😳
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