Thomas Tuchel has criticized the referee Szymon Marciniak after the loss. He claims that he saw the referee smiling alongside Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti. Tuchel believes that referees don’t make decisions against Real Madrid and he knows he will get backlash for his comments.
Tuchel’s Comments
Tuchel was angry at the referee for smiling with Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti and was critical of the referee.
He said,
“I’m disappointed that the referee had a good time with my colleague, Carlo Ancelotti. I know Carlo is a gentleman and a nice guy but when I wanted to go and say thank you I see him smiling and laughing loudly with the opponent coach.
I think this is the very, very worst time to do this, after 126 minutes with one team giving their heart and desire, fighting to the very last drop.
Afterwards you go as a coach and see the referee laughing and smiling with the other coach. I think it’s very, very bad timing.”
Tuchel was disappointed at the referee for ruling out Marcos Alonso’s goal for handball.
He added,
“Not only today, it is like this for some time, and now maybe I get problems.If you play against Real Madrid you can maybe not expect everybody has the courage. I felt little decisions went against us also in the first-leg and today as well.
I did not see the goal but I told him I’m super disappointed he didn’t go to check it himself. You should stay the boss and not give decisions like this to somebody in a chair [the VAR] and isolated from the atmosphere.
A referee has a certain style, things he allows and doesn’t allow, so I think he should stay in charge and check it on his own, then he could explain it better.But this is just my opinion. Maybe it’s too much to ask for in matches like this against this opponent.
We had it in our hands and we were not lucky enough, it’s like this.”
A bittersweet ending
Tuchel was bittersweet at the end of the match claiming he was proud yet disappointed at the turn of events.
He said,
“We are very disappointed and very proud at the same time, We played a fantastic match, we deserved what we had, four goals and we had big chances to score even more, We were beaten by pure individual quality and two mistakes after ball wins, which are the most crucial moments against Real Madrid.
In the end we were unlucky, we deserved to go through after this performance today but it was not meant to be. Luck was not on our side and you always need luck.”
Chelsea lost to Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge 3-1 thanks to a Karim Benzema hattrick. Chelsea were devoid of hope but they came back in the second leg and took a 3-0 lead over Madrid. Until a juicy cross from Luka Modric from the outside of his foot to Rodrygo who finished with a sublime volley that leveled the score. Karim Benzema went on to win the match for Real Madrid in extra time with a thumping header.
Follow us on Twitter for more Football Updates.
