“I was disappointed at the referee; I see him laughing, smiling, and laughing aloud with the opponent’s coach”- Chelsea’s boss Thomas Tuchel after the Blues lost to Real Madrid on aggregate in Champions League 2021-22
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Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel was not happy with the actions of referee Szymon Marciniak after he smiled and laughed with Real Madrid’s coach Carlo Ancelotti after the Champions League match on Wednesday. He thought that it was inappropriate of the referee to do that as Chelsea lost 5-4 to Real Madrid in extra time.
By this, he also questioned if the referee has what it takes to key unbiased decisions against Los Merengues as the defending champions failed to protect their European crown as they lost the tie in extra time. The 48-year-old was seen angrily remonstrating with the officials at full-time.
“I was disappointed at the referee. He had a good time with my colleague Carlo Ancelotti, who is a gentleman and a nice guy, but when I wanted to go and say ‘thank you for the match,’ I see him laughing, smiling, and laughing aloud with the opponent’s coach. I think this is the very, very wrong time to do this after the final whistle, after 126 minutes with one team giving their heart and fighting to the very last drop,” said Tuchel.
“To go as a coach and see the referee laughing and smiling with the other coach I think is very, very bad timing and I told him this. That was it,” added the Chelsea Boss.
The Blues’ melancholy was visible as Marcos Alonso’s second-half goal was disallowed due to a handball decision with the referee skipping a VAR review. A decision that could have potentially been an advantage for Chelsea if the goal stood.
“Sometimes now maybe I get problems. If you play against Real Madrid, you can maybe not expect that everybody has the courage,” concluded Tuchel.
What’s up next for Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel?
Regardless of the result, Thomas Tuchel is proud of his team’s performance as they took the match to its last minute and never hung themselves up. Chelsea also did get their tactics right on the night putting an exceptional performance as they took a brief lead in the 74th minute.
Chelsea is currently third in the Premier League table and will like to maintain that feat but any further progress seems impossible as Liverpool and Manchester City take the top spots with a margin of 11 points between them and the other teams. The Blues are in the semi-finals of the FA cup and will face Crystal Palace on Sunday.
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Thomas Savio Joseph
(51 Articles Published)