Bayern Munich irate with referee after Champions League semifinal blunder

A horrible blunder from referee Szymon Marciniak cost Bayern Munich a place in the UEFA Champions League final, and everyone at the club was left angered by it.

Bayern Munich were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday evening in excruciating fashion, as a late turnaround saw them lose 2-1 to Real Madrid (4-3 on aggregate). The big talking point of the second leg of the semifinal occurred late in stoppage time with Bayern desperately searching for a goal.

Matthijs de Ligt thought he had scored the goal to bring Bayern back on level terms. However, the goal was chalked off for offside. Replays suggested that none of the Bayern players were in an offside position. However, a VAR check could not be conducted as referee Szymon Marciniak had already blown his whistle moments before de Ligt took his shot.

Thomas Tuchel revealed after the game that the linesman apologized to them for the blunder. "It was a disastrous decision from the linesman and the referee. It feels like a betrayal in the end," Tuchel told TNT Sports. "The linesman said sorry but that does not help. To raise the flag in a close decision like this in the last minute. The referee did not have to whistle either. He sees we get the second ball and we get the shot away. So then to whistle, it’s a very, very bad decision. It’s against the rules. It's a bad decision from both of them. It’s a disaster. It’s hard to swallow but that’s the way it is."

Max Eberl was also critical of what he felt was a bad decision, and revealed that Marciniak admitted to them that he had made a mistake. The Bayern Munich board member told Sky Sport, "How many years has the VAR been around? How many years has this offside rule been in place? That's extremely strange and questionable for me. The referee said it was his mistake. We can't do anything with that! Everyone wanted to see a German final, except for the Polish referees. So I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for BVB in the final."

It will no doubt take some time for Bayern Munich to recover from this heartbreaking defeat. The two European heavyweights fought very hard over the course of the 180 minutes. And then for it to be decided in such a manner will certainly sting.