Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has accused referee Szymon Marciniak of inappropriate conduct following his side's 5-4 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final.
The German coach claims Marciniak acted too friendly towards Blancos noss Carlo Ancelotti following the second leg on Tuesday.
Tuchel also came away from the game upset about a disallowed goal from Marcos Alonso that could have influenced the tie.
What has been said?
"I was disappointed that the referee had a good time with my colleague Carlo Ancelotti," Tuchel said.
"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.
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"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."
The bigger picture
Chelsea, the winners of last year's top European competition, are now out of the Champions League despite a determined effort to dig out of a two-goal hole from the first leg.
They briefly held a 4-3 aggregate advantage before Rodrygo forced extra time and Karim Benzema notched a match-winner.
The Blues will now turn back to the Premier League, where they sit in third place and hold a comfortable position in the Champions League qualification places.
Further reading
- Never write Madrid off! Benzema & Modric break Chelsea hearts
- Madrid crush Chelsea dreams in epic UCL clash
- Why did VAR rule out Marcos Alonso's UCL goal?
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