Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has responded to Thomas Tuchel’s strong claims after Bayern Munich lost the UEFA Champions League semifinals to Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu.
After a barren first half, substitute Alphonso Davies scored a thunderbolt from inside the box to give Bayern Munich an unlikely lead in the second half.
It nearly ended in a defeat for the home side before £1.5m loanee from Espanyol and former Wolves striker Joselu scored a fire brace late in the game to complete a dramatic comeback for the Los Blancos.
A nervy final minutes of the game saw Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt score what would have been an equaliser for the visitors but the goal was chalked off for a controversial offside call.
The linesman was at the center of the controversy for raising the offside flag when it was still a tight ankle with no clearcut view.
After a re-evaluation of the incident, it was later discovered that it was not an offside but unlike Joselu’s second goal and winner, the VAR could not intervene because the linesman had raised the flag.
Thomas Tuchel refused to spare the hints as he lashed out at both the referee and linesman for a reckless decision that flipped the game in Real Madrid’s favor.
According to him, the incident was also a case of favoritism as Real Madrid would not have been treated the same way if they were to be at the receiving end of the wrong decision.
”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 sorts of mistakes,” Tuchel said.
Reacting to Thomas Tuchel’s claims, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti disputed the German, saying the Los Blancos also had their fair share of a wrongly disallowed goal.
According to the veteran manager, Real Madrid’s first goal should have stood if he wanted to go by Thomas Tuchel’s claims.
“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.,” Ancelotti said.
Before Joselu’s double, the Los Blancos had got one in the back of the net but it was chalked off after a VAR review showed Nacho having his 10 fingers on the face of Joshua Kimmich and pushing him to the ground in the build-up.
Real Madrid will now lock horns with Borussia Dortmund in the final of the elite club competition in May for their 15th Champions League trophy.
