The manager of Bayern Munich, Thomas Tuchel was left fuming after Matthijs de Ligt’s goal was disallowed for an offside which he felt was a mistake from the linesman and the referee.
Tuchel did not hide his anger when he was asked about the goal during the post-match press conference after the game. According to the German, the decision by the referee and linesman was nothing short of a disaster.
What was the controversial moment that happened in the game?
Bayern thought they had snatched a 113th-minute equaliser when Dutch defender De Ligt hit the net, but play had already been stopped for an offside call and this decision could not allow the incident to be reviewed by VAR.
What did Thomas Tuchel say about the incident?
“That was an absolute disaster. 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, does not have to whistle, he sees that we win the second ball, and 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.”
Real Madrid won the game 4-3 on aggregate and they will face Borussia Dortmund in the final where they will be looking to win the Champions League for a record 15th time, a feat that has never been achieved by any club.
