German coach Thomas Tuchel expressed his anger at referee Simon Marciniak's exchange of "smiles and laughter" with Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, after bidding farewell to the Champions League champions from the quarter-finals, losing 5-4 on the aggregate score.
After losing 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in the first leg last week, Chelsea looked on their way to qualifying after advancing 3-0 in the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.
But Real Madrid tied 4-4 on the aggregate score 10 minutes before the end, and Karim Benzema decided the Spanish team qualified in extra time.
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Mason Mount opens the scoring with a missile goal and ignites the match# Champions League pic.twitter.com/Mg0WeqfwKX
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Tuchel told a news conference that Marciniak appeared to be "enjoying his time with Carlo" after the match.
"When I wanted to go to thank him, he was laughing and smiling with the coach of the opposing team," the German coach added.
"I think it's a very wrong timing to do it after the final whistle, 126 minutes in which the team gave everything. When you go and see the referee smiling and laughing with the other coach, it's bad timing. I told him that."
Tuchel was not satisfied that the referee himself did not review Marcos Alonso's goal, which was canceled by the VAR due to a handball in the second half.
He continued, "I did not see the goal, but I am very disappointed that he did not go and review the goal himself. You must be in control and not leave the decision in the hands of an isolated person outside the field."
Rudiger rises above everyone and scores the second goal for Chelsea against Real Madrid .. Chelsea just cuffs and the match is on a hot tin 😯# Champions League # Chelsea_Real_Madrid pic.twitter.com/S8OGmTHDow
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Tuchel praised his players for their efforts, saying, "We did our best. I am very proud of my players and I think we deserved to qualify, but luck was not on our side."
"We were not lucky. That's why we are disappointed. We lost to individual efficiency only. We made two mistakes, we lost the ball twice. We deserved to qualify after the match we played tonight, but it was not destined for us."
Real Madrid rose up against the awakening of Chelsea to book a place in the semi-finals, where he will face either Manchester City or Atletico Madrid.
"We don't regret anything," Tuchel said. "Defeats like these make you accept them with pride as an athlete. We were very organized, energetic and moved well without the ball. We played bravely and from this point of view we played well. This is the right way to play, if we work hard, we are an exceptional team."
Real Madrid @realmadridarab reached the semi-finals of the Champions League despite losing the second leg from Chelsea @ChelseaFC with a score of 2-3, taking advantage of its 3-1 victory in the first leg
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Moheeb bin Shuikha pic.twitter.com/VwLNgSGSKr
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Tuchel had criticized his team's performance in the first leg when Real Madrid dominated the match to win 3-1.
After that, the German coach described his team's chances as "impossible";
Which ignited the enthusiasm of his players, who performed a completely different performance in Madrid.
"We showed great courage and efficiency. I'm very happy, and this is the way to go forward. The demands at Chelsea are huge, and the players' reaction made us proud. We played completely differently to what happened in the [4-1 defeat in the league] against Brentford and the first leg. That's the difference. enormous".
"We have never been shy about emphasizing that this is the most important thing, and how to rise on the level. We did our best today," he added.