Thomas Tuchel has admitted that he was disappointed to see referee Szymon Marciniak engage in inappropriate conduct with Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti after the conclusion of the match. Chelsea suffered a 5-4 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final.

Real Madrid hosted Chelsea at the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the premier European competition with half the job completed as they held a significant 3-1 advantage from the first leg at Stamford Bridge. The European champions made a bright start to the contest as Mason Mount slotted the ball home in the 15th minute to open the scoring.

Antonio Rudiger put them two up front in the 51st minute as he headed home Mount’s corner. Marcos Alonso soon had the ball in the back of the net with a brilliant finish but his goal was disallowed by VAR for handball. Timo Werner shocked the home crowd as he made it 3-0 in the 75th minute to put Chelsea ahead 4-3 on aggregate.

The Spanish giants forced their way into the match when Rodrygo slotted the ball home emphatically in the 80th minute. Karim Benzema was the star for the Spanish side once again as he clipped in a cross to hand Madrid the 5-4 aggregate victory.

Chelsea manager Tuchel expressed his disappointment with the conduct of the referee after the game. 

“I was disappointed that the referee had a good time with my colleague Carlo Ancelotti. I know Carlo is a nice guy but when I wanted to go and say thank you for the match, I saw him smiling and laughing loudly with the opponents’ coach,” Tuchel told reporters after the match.

“I think this is the wrong time to do this after a final whistle from 120 minutes where one team gave all their hearts and fought until the last drop. You go and see the referee smiling and laughing with the other coach, I think it is very, very bad timing. I told him this and that’s it,” he added.