German Thomas Müller, star of Bayern Munich, launched a scathing attack on the refereeing staff in his team's match against Real Madrid (1-2) last Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. In the final moments of the match, Bayern Munich scored an equalizer, but Polish referee Szymon Marciniak disallowed it for offside, despite replays showing it was valid, as he had blown his whistle before the goal was scored. This decision led the Bayern players to protest, as it knocked them out of the Champions League.
Spanish newspaper "Marca" reported Müller as saying: "The referee didn't go to the video assistant referee and didn't even have the chance to see the play. A situation like this is very strange; the referee blew his whistle quickly." He added, "It's an unbelievable decision. Usually, they let us run three meters before blowing the whistle for disallowed goals or something like that. I don't know what happened."
Müller revealed: "Unfortunately, this happens a lot in Madrid. It already happened to me in 2017 with two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, but that was before the VAR technology."
Real Madrid secured a place in the 2024 Champions League final, facing another German team, Borussia Dortmund, which eliminated Paris Saint-Germain last Tuesday.
