Bayern Munich was left flabbergasted by a late call in its Champions League semifinal defeat at the hands of Real Madrid.
Over 13 minutes into second-half stoppage time in a dramatic second leg, Matthijs de Ligt appeared to have scored a staggering equalizer.
However, referee Szymon Marciniak chalked the goal off, drawing intense disagreement from Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel.
“To raise the flag in a situation like this, where you can never, never, never be sure that this is offside, to raise — to have the balls, to have the guts, to raise the flag in a situation like this — is a huge call, and it’s the wrong call,” seethed Tuchel in a post-match press conference.
“The referee has the chance, when he sees that we win the second ball and we win the rebound and we get a shot away within five seconds, he has the chance not to whistle. He takes the decision to whistle, it’s against every rule.”
Tuchel: Call ‘would not have happened’ to Real Madrid
A long ball forward put Real under pressure, and a knockdown header from Thomas Müller set De Ligt up to fire home, seemingly equalizing the scores at 4-4 and setting up extra time.
However, in a game that had already seen a stunning comeback for los Merengues, the last turn of the tale was the wildest: assistant referee Tomasz Listkiewicz lifted his flag to signal offside rather than following the current IFAB directive to let the sequence play out, and Marciniak blew his whistle in agreement.
By rule, Marciniak’s whistle coming so early prevented any VAR check, meaning any chance for Bayern’s goal to be given — much in the same way that Real’s winning goal from Joselu was — was dashed in an instant.
Joselu’s stoppage-time winner came on a sequence that was initially called back for offside, but in that sequence Marciniak held his whistle until the ball crossed the line. As such, VAR could check the call, eventually overturning the initial decision and awarding Real what turned out to be an utterly crucial goal.
For Tuchel, the call went beyond a mistake, with the German coach intimating that Madrid got special treatment.
“I’m sorry. We accept we lost. It is what it is, but just…that [call] would not have happened on the other side.”
Nonetheless, Real will go on to June 1’s Champions League final at Wembley, with Borussia Dortmund the opponent.
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