THOMAS TUCHEL has accused the referee of breaking “every rule” after he denied Bayern Munich a last-gasp equaliser against Real Madrid.
The German giants were cruelly knocked out of the Champions League after Joselu struck twice in three minutes to complete a stunning late comeback.
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But there was still time for Bayern to launch a fightback as nine minutes were added on at the end of the match.
And they thought they had got their equaliser when Matthijs de Ligt struck a low shot past Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin.
However referee Szymon Marciniak had already blown his whistle as the linesman flagged for offside – despite the call being very tight.
Linesmen are advised to delay raising their flags, particularly when the players involved are so close, as De Ligt and team-mate Noussair Mazraoui were.
The decision sparked outrage from the Bayern bench as a member of Tuchel’s backroom staff received a yellow card.
Tuchel, who was also booked earlier in the game, fumed at the decision in his post-match press conference.
He said: “I think it’s pretty clear and [there] cannot be in my opinion any doubt that it is against every rule of modern football.
“The first big mistake is from the linesman, he did it in an action in overtime in an action with Alphonso Davies he did it also, he raised his flag straight away.
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“I don’t know if he was offside. I got a strange feeling. To raise your flag in a situation like this when you can never be sure that this is offside, to have the guts to raise the flag in a situation like this is a huge call. And it’s the wrong call.
“The referee has the chance when he sees that we win the second ball and we win the rebound and we get the shot away within five seconds, he has the chance not to whistle. He takes the decision to whistle – it is against every rule.
“We accept we lost. It is what it is but that would not have happened on the other side.”
De Ligt revealed the linesman apologised for “making a mistake” after the match.
He said: “This is a shame. The linesman said to me ‘I’m sorry I made a mistake’.
“In the end, I’m not the type of person who wants to blame the loss or win on the referee so Madrid deserves to win because they won 2-1.
“But I think, if it’s a rule, it’s a rule and that’s the only thing I can say about it.”
