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.
How the game unfolded:
Joselu was Real Madrid’s hero as the former Stoke City striker’s stunning late double completed a 2-1 comeback win over Bayern Munich to reach the Champions League final via a 4-3 aggregate victory.
Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern thought they were heading into the Wembley final as they led until 88 minutes through Alphonso Davies’ second-half stunner, but then Manuel Neuer, who had produced four amazing stops earlier in the game, shockingly spilled Vinicius Junior’s shot into substitute Joselu’s path to equalise.
As the Santiago Bernabeu pressure rose – and after Harry Kane had been taken off by Tuchel with the score at 1-0 to Bayern – Joselu then turned in Antonio Rudiger’s cross from close range in the 91st minute, a winner eventually given after a VAR review of a tight offside call on the forward.
However, there was late controversy as Bayern were denied what looked like a clear equaliser deep into stoppage time when Matthijs De Ligt scored on the half-volley.
But with the linesman already flagging for offside, referee Szymon Marciniak had also already blown for offside despite replays appearing to show that Bayern’s attackers may have been onside.
The astonishing yet vintage Real Madrid comeback means they will meet Borussia Dortmund in the Wembley final on June 1, a result which also leaves England captain Kane trophyless from his first season at Bayern.
