April 13, (THEWILL) – Following Chelsea’s Champions League exit on Tuesday night, Thomas Tuchel accused referee, Szymon Marciniak, of “smiling and laughing” with Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti.
Tuchel’s side overcame a two-goal aggregate deficit in the first leg to lead Los Blancos late in normal time at the Bernabeu, courtesy of goals from Mason Mount, Antonio Rudiger, and Timo Werner.
After Rodrygo’s stunning late volley had pulled them level, an extra-time header from Karim Benzema – his fourth goal of the double-header – turned the tide in Real’s favour, and they were able to cling on for a narrow 5-4 aggregate triumph.
Tuchel stated his disappointment after the game when he saw referee Marciniak “smiling and laughing” with Real manager Ancelotti after the final whistle.
He clarified his reaction saying: “I was disappointed that the referee had a good time with Carlo,” Tuchel explained. “When I wanted to go and say thank you, he was smiling and laughing with the opponent’s coach.
“I think this is the very wrong time to do this after the final whistle, 126 minutes of a team giving their heart. When you go and see a referee smiling and laughing with the other coach, it is bad timing. I told him this.”
The decision of the official not to go to the monitor to double-check a disallowed Marcos Alonso goal, which was ruled out for a doubtful handball, irritated the German coach even more.
“I’m very disappointed for the referee that he did not check [the disallowed Alonso goal]… but that’s what you get when you play Real Madrid in the Champions League.”
Over the two legs, Tuchel admitted that both individual talent and blunders had cost Chelsea: “We had two mistakes after ball wins, the most crucial moments in games against Real Madrid. We deserved to go through after this performance, but it was not meant to be. You need luck in games like this and it was not on our side.
“They did not create a lot at Stamford Bridge, but they took every half chance. You have to reduce your mistakes and we could not reduce it to an absolute minimum over the two legs. But there are no regrets. These are the kind of defeats you can take with pride and accept as a sportsman.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
