“I told him this, that’s very bad” – Tuchel blasts referee and Carlo Ancelotti for what they did after final whistle
The Blues were leading 3-0 at one point in the game, but couldn’t maintain that lead which would have been enough to see us through to the semi-final.
After crashing out in extra time, Chelsea would turn focus to the FA Cup and sealing a top four finish in the Premier League.
However, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel wasn’t pleased with the centre referee of the day, Szymon Marciniak, as he was busy laughing and chatting out loud with Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti at full time. Tuchel believes it was unethical.
He said: “I was 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 for the match, I saw him smiling and laughing loudly with the opponents’ coach.
“I think this is the very, very wrong time to do this after a final whistle and 126 minutes where one team gave all their hearts and fought until the last drop.
“You go and see the referee smiling and laughing with the other coach. I think it is very, very bad timing. I told him this, and that’s it.
“Maybe I get myself into a problem. But if you play Real Madrid, you cannot expect that everyone has the courage [to make decisions]. I also felt the little decisions in the first leg and the second leg today.
“I did not see the goal, but I told him that I was super disappointed that he does not come out and check it on his own. In a match like this where you have a certain line to whistle, you should stay the boss and not give decisions like this to somebody in a chair who is isolated from the atmosphere.
“He has a certain style and certain things that he allows and does not allow, and he follows a certain line – so I think he should stay in charge and check it on his own then he could also explain it better.
“It is just my opinion. I thought we deserved more minutes in the end because it felt like we had no minutes to play in the second half of the extra time. Maybe it is 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 is like this.”