Tuchel says offside decision 'felt like betrayal'

Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel said the decision from officials to stop play before his side scored a stoppage-time equaliser against Real Madrid "feels like a betrayal".

Bayern led 1-0 in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final up until the 88th minute, when substitute Joselu scored twice in three minutes.

With Bayern trailing 2-1 in the 13th minute of stoppage time, Matthijs de Ligt thought he had equalised but assistant referee Tomasz Listkiewicz had already raised his flag for offside.

Real defenders stopped before De Ligt fired into the net and television replays showed the original decision may not have been offside and would have needed to be checked by video assistant referee (VAR).

Because play had been stopped, VAR was unable to intervene. Tuchel told TNT Sports "it was a very, very bad decision" and "against the rules".

"There was a disastrous decision from the linesman and the referee. It feels like a betrayal in the end," he said.

"The linesman says sorry but that does not help. To raise the flag in a moment like this...

"The referee sees we get the second ball and we get the shot.

"It's hard to swallow but that's the way it is."

Tuchel later confirmed referee Szymon Marciniak, who took charge of the 2022 World Cup final, also apologised, but said it "does not help".

"Everyone has to go to their limit; everyone has to suffer; everyone has to play without making mistakes. So the referee has to be at that level too," said Tuchel.

"It just doesn't help to make excuses after the fact. You are on the field for this reason, because you are the best there is. And we have the right to expect that until the end."

Real play Borussia Dortmund in the final at Wembley on 1 June.

He said 'sorry, I made a mistake' - De Ligt

De Ligt was part of the Ajax side beaten by Tottenham in the 2019 Champions League semi-finals

Netherlands defender De Ligt said Listkiewicz apologised for the decision after full-time.

"[He] said 'I am sorry, I made a mistake'," De Ligt said.

"We made rules in football. The rules said if it's not a clear offside you have to keep playing. This is a big mistake."

Christina Unkel, former Fifa referee and referee analyst for CBS, said there were two mistakes around the decision by the officials.

"The first error is by the assistant in raising the flag, which goes against the direction of holding the flag during the attacking phase of play," she said.

"The second error is by the referee in accepting that recommendation and blowing his whistle.

"This Polish trio would be considered the best in Europe. It is a very surprising decision."

Joselu's equaliser came after a mistake from Manuel Neuer, who fumbled Vinicius Jr's weak shot.

The Germany keeper said: "Anyone who’s ever played football knows how I’m feeling right now - that we’ve been knocked out in the closing stages, having led 1-0 until the 85th minute.

"It's extremely bitter for me. I expected the ball to land a bit differently to my chest but it went a bit higher and it was difficult to get a hold of it."

Tuchel said: "No-one will point a finger at him and he is the most unhappy one.

"Ninety-nine out of 100 times he makes it. It is just very, very bitter."