The whistle was blown early despite the incredibly tight call (Pictures: Getty / beIN SPORTS)
A fresh graphic from Wednesday’s controversial Champions League clash between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich has revealed that play should not have been halted for offside.
The Bundesliga giants were closing in on a brilliant semi-final win at the Bernabeu after Alphonso Davies had put them ahead with a thunderous effort, only for the match to flip on its head in a chaotic finale.
Manager Thomas Tuchel had made a number of defensive subs, switching to a back five and subbing off Harry Kane, and eventually Real’s pressure proved too much as the otherwise excellent Manuel Neuer spilled a shot and Joselu tucked home the rebound.
Just three minutes later, the former Stoke City forward tapped home his second to seal the victory for Real after a lengthy offside check from VAR.
Bayern’s players looked distraught but they still had over 10 minutes of added time to find an equaliser, and even without their four first-choice attackers on the pitch they still managed to carve out one big chance late on.
An optimistic long ball was floated into the box and headed away by Ferland Mendy, but only as far as Noussair Mazraoui who passed to Matthijs de Ligt, with the centre-back stroking the ball into the bottom corner.
Before the ball had reached him, however, the linesman had raised his flag for offside and referee Szymon Marciniak blew his whistle, with Real’s players appearing to give up once they heard it and before De Ligt had rolled the ball in.
However, officials are instructed to let the play continue for tight offside calls and Bayern were livid that the whistle had been blown so early – and they will be even more annoyed when they see that the chance was not offside.
The inactive De Ligt is offside, but Mazraoui is onside (Picture: beIN SPORTS)
Footage from beIN SPORTS has confirmed that, while De Ligt was offside when the ball was first played, Mazraoui – who competes for the ball with Mendy – was not.
As De Ligt does not challenge for the first ball, he is not active, so the move should have been allowed to play out.
Bayern’s players were still seething in the mixed zone afterwards when they spoke to the media, with De Ligt saying: ‘The linesman said to me, “I’m sorry, I made a mistake”.
‘The rule says that if it’s not clear offside … you have to keep playing.
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‘And if you go in the last minute and you whistle like this, I think this is a big mistake. If it’s offside or not, I don’t know, VAR can check it, but if you don’t check it, how can you see it? This is a shame.’
Tuchel was just as annoyed, telling TNT Sports: ‘There was a disastrous decision from the linesman and the referee. It feels like a betrayal in the end.
‘The linesman says sorry but that does not help. To raise the flag in a moment like this… The referee sees we get the second ball and we get the shot. It’s hard to swallow but that’s the way it is.’
Real Madrid will now take on Borussia Dortmund in the final of the Champions League at the very start of next month, while Bayern will end the season trophyless for the first time in over a decade.
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