Thomas Tuchel lamented a “disastrous” decision from the officials after Bayern Munich were denied an equaliser by an early offside flag in their dramatic Champions League semi-final loss to Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Bayern were set to tee up an all-German Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund when Alphonso Davies put them 1-0 up at the Santiago Bernabeu, 4-3 ahead on aggregate.
However, Madrid substitute Joselu took advantage of a Manuel Neuer mistake to equalise in the 88th minute then put Los Blancos ahead one minute into stoppage time.
The drama was not over there as Matthijs de Ligt put the ball in the net from Thomas Muller’s knock-down deep into stoppage time, but referee Szymon Marciniak had already blown the whistle after the flag was raised for offside.
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Replays showed the decision was extremely tight, with Tuchel and Bayern’s players reacting furiously at the end of the game.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Tuchel said: “It’s a disastrous decision from the linesman and the referee. It feels like a betrayal because of that decision.
“The linesman said sorry, but that doesn’t help at this level. To raise the flag in a close decision in the last minute… the referee also does not have to whistle.
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) May 8, 2024
“To whistle is a bad decision and it is against the rules. It’s a disaster and it’s hard to swallow.”
De Ligt echoed his coach’s sentiments when speaking to DAZN in Germany, saying: “I find the incident unbelievable. I can’t understand it, you have to play through it.
“I don’t want to say that Madrid are always lucky, but that makes the difference today.”
