Thomas Tuchel lashed out at the match officials after Bayern Munich were denied a seemingly legitimate goal in their Champions League semi-final loss against Real Madrid.
Despite taking the lead through David Alaba in the second-half, Bayern were left fighting for their lives following a dramatic late double from Joselu. It looked as though Konrad Laimer had taken the tie to extra-time by scoring with practically the last kick of the game, but the goal was ruled out for offside by the linesman.
Replays showed that the decision was tight and the incident wasn't checked by VAR given that the offside flag had been raised early.
An irate Tuchel branded the incident a "betrayal" in his post-match interview with TNT Sports, with the outgoing Bayern Munich chief also revealing that the officials had already apologised.
He raged: “We are almost through, it's almost there and there was a very unusual mistake from our best player for the equaliser then we conceded the second one in stoppage time.
Fans say the same thing as Scott Parker earns shock move to Champions League“Then we scored one and there was a disastrous decision from the linesman and the referee. It feels like a betrayal in the end. There was a huge fight, we left everything on the pitch and we were almost there. Now we say congratulations to Real Madrid.
“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 a very, very bad decision. It's against the rules. It's a disaster. It's hard to swallow but that's the way it is.”
Join the debate! What did you make of the offside decision? Let us know here.
Matthijs De Ligt also vented his frustrations post-match. Like Tuchel, he revealed that the officials had apologised during his interview with beIN Sports.
The defender said: “If it’s offside, it’s offside, but we made rules in football and the rule says that if it’s not a clear offside, which it wasn’t, you have to keep playing. If you go in the last minute and you whistle like this, I think this is a big mistake and a big disgrace. If it’s offside or not, I don’t know, you can check it but if you don’t check it how can you see it.
“[On] the second goal of Joselu, [Antonio] Rudiger is almost also offside. If he whistles there, nothing, but now it’s a difference.”
DON'T SCRAP REPLAYS! Join our petition to keep the magic of the FA Cup alive!
and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our