Thomas Tuchel has revealed his frustrations with the referee following Chelsea's Champions League defeat to Real Madrid but not necessarily because of his performance across 120 minutes of football. The Blues had seen Marcos Alonso's goal ruled out via VAR during the second half of the quarter-final clash, but it appears the 48-year-old's issue was not that when the full-time whistle went.
Tuchel was seen in animated discussion with Szymon Marciniak following the evening's proceedings at the Bernabeu, with the German coach visibly angry with the official. The former Borussia Dortmund boss had consoled some of his players before greeting the referee and was triggered by the interaction in advance of his own.
Marciniak has greeted Carlo Ancelotti, who was obviously basking in his side's victory, but Tuchel took offence to the ref's reaction. 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.
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"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."
Some Chelsea supporters may be more concerned with aspects of Marciniak's performance. However, given the VAR call and the fact that Kai Havertz was denied a penalty following a challenge by Casemiro and instead had a free kick awarded against him due to the collision with Thibaut Courtois.
Former Premier League referee Peter Walton did not expect Alonso's goal to overturn despite the ball ricocheting into the Spaniard's midriff, not seeing enough evidence to change the decision.
Speaking on BT Sport, Walton said: "The rules are if it hits the attacker's hand, whether it's accidental or not, the goal will be disallowed. I can't see any evidence for this to be overturned."
