Thomas Tuchel has torn into the officials of Bayern Munich's Champions League semi-final tie against Real Madrid after his side were denied a potential late equaliser.
Bayern crashed out of the Champions League in dramatic fashion on Wednesday night, leading the tie with three minutes to go but conceding two late goals to Joselu as Madrid booked their place at Wembley at the start of June.
But the former Stoke forward's strikes were only half the story, with Matthijs De Ligt netting in the 13th minute of injury time, only for Polish referee Szymon Marciniak to have blown his whistle for offside moments before.
Replays showed that the call was extremely tight, with Bayern's Noussair Mazraoui appearing at first glance to be onside despite the call. Due to the whistle already being blown, VAR could not intervene, with officials told to delay their calls in case they are wrong.
Tuchel, speaking to TNT Sports, revealed the assistant referee had apologised to him for flagging early in a move that could have cost his team the game.
'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 equaliser, 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.'
He added: '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.
'We accept the apology (from the linesman) but this is not the time to apologise. It's the semi-finals and it's not the time to make those sort of mistakes.'
De Ligt had led the Bayern protests on the pitch, and echoed his manager's comments post-match in that he too had received an apology from the officials.
Bayern will now go trophyless for the season for the first time in over a decade.
'We all know the rules if the offside is not clear then we have to play on,' said the Dutch defender. 'It's a disgrace that it happened against us and not for us at the other end when Joselu was almost offside and the game was allowed to continue.
'A decision like that in the last minute is a mistake It's always easy to talk about the referee after the game but this time it's merited.'
He added: 'He said, "I'm sorry, I made a mistake", but that is no consolation to me.'
De Ligt was gracious when asked about Carlo Ancelotti's team, saying: 'We went from winning to losing in a moment and it feels terrible. We were so close. We thought they were dead and they came back again. That's why they have won the Champions League 14 times.'
Ancelotti hit back at the complaints from Tuchel and De Ligt, however, saying: 'If they complain about that then we can complain about our goal that was disallowed. Both players were pushing each other and it's Nacho who gets penalised.'
The record-breaking coach preferred to focus on two-goal Joselu, adding: 'He is the perfect representation of what this squad is all about. He hasn't played that much this season but he never gives up.'
themainman
0
De robbing people
I've never mocked a bayern fan.. don't let me start today
themainman
0
No one is not talking about Madrid second goal?
cry.. cry hard... cry and poo
themainman
0
when facing real Madrid always have in your mind you are playing against players and officials. who wants to dare Papa Perez, Tebas and Infantino😂😂😂
behind the laughing emoji is pain and tears.. cry more
CHICKIESMP
0
football is a dramma filled game reason toxic relationships always see both partners being football lovers
ABDULFATAI ADESANYA
1
No one is not talking about Madrid second goal?
Were you watching back of the TV not to have seen the goal technology that showed the line also indicated ONSIDE ??? Maybe you should buy yourself a glasses
ABDULFATAI ADESANYA
2
when facing real Madrid always have in your mind you are playing against players and officials. who wants to dare Papa Perez, Tebas and Infantino😂😂😂
Your Negreira case is still on going. If care is not taken your Brokelona will be evicted from La Liga
ABDULFATAI ADESANYA
3
And Tuchel never new the game also would have turned out a disastrous for his team if their equalized goal was counted because Tuchel already removed all his team attacking players and this would have allowed Realmadrid to shell out multiple goals on Bayern. Who knows maybe the match would have ended 9-2 scoreline
Tutelopuy
0
No one is not talking about Madrid second goal?
Stop saying bulls**** does Girona n Barca played under UEFA yesterday?!!
Femzy1991
0
when facing real Madrid always have in your mind you are playing against players and officials. who wants to dare Papa Perez, Tebas and Infantino😂😂😂
That was the same referee that have your Messi is world cup. You are here complaining now about Real Madrid.. Fool
kizadeikpz
0
No one is not talking about Madrid second goal?
cry more. No one is talking about Girona beating Barca home and away.
kizadeikpz
0
when facing real Madrid always have in your mind you are playing against players and officials. who wants to dare Papa Perez, Tebas and Infantino😂😂😂
cry more
rahmsey
3
when facing real Madrid always have in your mind you are playing against players and officials. who wants to dare Papa Perez, Tebas and Infantino😂😂😂
Tutelopuy
0
No one is not talking about Madrid second goal?
lbt
1
The linesman said "sorry", not for any mistake but for your loss.
Ceaaklmprt
0
that's it
niezly
1
VAR didn't check?
real is real always referee help them
nTesla
0
People are just complaining about that goal but forgot that the goal was scored in the 13th minute of the clock when only 9 minutes of extra time were needed and despite the referee being able to add 2 more minutes which should have been 11 the game still continued to 13 minutes which was unfair to Madrid Tuchel don’t want to admit that he made poor changes like he did two seasons ago against Madrid when he was a coach in Chelsea Let him cry and kill himself
Yea!! If Real was trailing these 💩head fans would've cried saying extra time was extended to help Madrid.
nTesla
0
I wonder why this so called linesman did not say anything about his mistake when he realized his mistake instead he waited until the game was over . This kind of referees give a bad name to our so called beautiful game and I think it’s shame that FIFA allowed this to happen .
Yea fifa has time machine to correct things happened in past, but they didn't use it
nTesla
1
VAR didn't check?
var can't intervene on incidents happening after whistle. Madrid players stopped playing on whistle, Lunin didn't even try to stop the ball
Chrisound
4
VAR didn't check?
ripbdimn
2
De robbing people
fuacdmsz
0
This shows you didn’t watch the game, you just came on here to comment
How did you come up with that comment
fuacdmsz
1
I wonder why this so called linesman did not say anything about his mistake when he realized his mistake instead he waited until the game was over . This kind of referees give a bad name to our so called beautiful game and I think it’s shame that FIFA allowed this to happen .
And how did you come up with that comment
Anuolu190
1
I wonder why this so called linesman did not say anything about his mistake when he realized his mistake instead he waited until the game was over . This kind of referees give a bad name to our so called beautiful game and I think it’s shame that FIFA allowed this to happen .
This shows you didn’t watch the game, you just came on here to comment
fuacdmsz
5
I wonder why this so called linesman did not say anything about his mistake when he realized his mistake instead he waited until the game was over . This kind of referees give a bad name to our so called beautiful game and I think it’s shame that FIFA allowed this to happen .
lfslsgs1234
5
People are just complaining about that goal but forgot that the goal was scored in the 13th minute of the clock when only 9 minutes of extra time were needed and despite the referee being able to add 2 more minutes which should have been 11 the game still continued to 13 minutes which was unfair to Madrid Tuchel don’t want to admit that he made poor changes like he did two seasons ago against Madrid when he was a coach in Chelsea Let him cry and kill himself
Kesadlor
4
god has already decided that kane will remain trophyless
singhmahaveer
5
Just to hide his own mistakes of wrong substitution in the end ...Tuchel tries to cover it up by blaming the Referee and the line's man 🧐😴🤣🤫