Ref 'having a good time'

MADRID • Polish referee Szymon Marciniak bore the brunt of Chelsea's ire as the holders crashed out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage on Tuesday.

Trailing 3-1 from the first leg at Stamford Bridge, the Blues looked on course for an astonishing comeback after taking a 3-0 lead via Mason Mount, Antonio Rudiger and an excellent individual effort from Timo Werner in the return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Yet the hosts came roaring back, with Rodrygo pulling one back 10 minutes from time after a superb pass by Luka Modric to force extra time. Karim Benzema headed home to decide a remarkable encounter, with the hosts going through 5-4 on aggregate despite the 3-2 defeat.

Afterwards, Tuchel took aim at Marciniak for "having a good time" with Real counterpart Carlo Ancelotti at the full-time whistle.

"When I wanted to go and say thank you, he was smiling and laughing with the opponent's coach," the German said.

"This is the very wrong time to do this after the final whistle, 126 minutes of a team giving their heart. When you go and see a referee smiling and laughing with the other coach, it's bad timing. I told him this."

Tuchel was also unhappy that Marciniak had not checked the video assistant referee (VAR) monitor himself when Marcos Alonso's effort was disallowed for handball in the second half.

It appeared accidental and injured teammate Ben Chilwell hit out at the decision not to award the goal, tweeting "this handball rule".

Tuchel was in agreement, saying: "I didn't see the goal but I am super disappointed he didn't come out and check it on his own. You should stay the boss and not give the decisions to someone in a chair who is isolated."

The Blues won the Club World Cup in February but with their European Cup defence over, they now have only a top-four spot in the Premier League to nail down and the FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace on Sunday.

It was not for a lack of trying as Chelsea became just the second English team to score three goals away against Real in Europe, after Manchester United did so in 1968, and Tuchel declared his pride in the stirring comeback that just fell short.

"We went to the full limit today. I'm very proud of my players and I think we deserved to qualify but luck was not on our side," he said.

"There are no regrets. These are the kinds of defeats you can take with pride as a sportsman. The demand at Chelsea is very high and the players responded in a way that makes all of us proud."

Ultimately, the game turned on the pass of the night by Modric, who split Chelsea's defence with a 30-metre ball over the top that was delivered by the outside of his boot.

Pundits like Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole and Steve McManaman unanimously raved over the moment of brilliance, with Ferdinand saying: "This pass from Luka Modric is why I lost my voice today! That's illegal, that. I was screaming... Phenomenal."

On reaching the last four of the competition for the second year in a row, the Croatia midfielder said: "Despite going 0-3, I don't think we played a bad game. Another night of suffering, but the important thing is that we have qualified.

"In the end, we showed great character, desire and togetherness to manage to turn it around. A defeat that is very sweet."

REUTERS