Bayern once again suffer due to poor officiating
Bayern fans once again had reason to complain about the officiating. The referee prematurely blew the whistle for an inconclusive offside call in added time. He ended up denying Bayern the chance to score the equalizer; Nacho’s two-handed foul on Kimmich in the neck/face region may have earned him a yellow card on another day at another venue. In the first half, the referee allowed the game to continue when there were two balls on the pitch. Despite the poor officiating once again coming to the fore, the game was lost when Tuchel, with his substitutions, handed over the initiative to Ancelloti.
A furious Thomas Tuchel asked if he accepts the referee's apology: "Very difficult. This is a semifinal, it's not the moment for apologies. Really not. It's not the moment for two huge violations of rules and then an apology. We all have to go to our limits, all have to suffer,… pic.twitter.com/c50SEhaINR
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) May 8, 2024
This is not the first time Bayern found themselves on the receiving end of poor decisions from the referee in games against Real Madrid. Back in 2017, then Bayern Coach Carlo Ancelotti complained when Cristiano Ronaldo scored what looked like two offside goals in added time of the quarter-final at the Santiago Bernabéu, against a 10-man Bayern side. It is a shame that such a glorious game between two giants was marred by a howler from the linesman.
For the sake of football and Bayern Munich when next these two teams clash in European competition it would be a good idea for coaches, match officials and UEFA officials to meet beforehand to avoid such recurrences. What good is VAR technology if it isn’t used correctly? It does nothing for the game when one team goes into a match believing it’s 11 versus 12.