Thomas Tuchel slams referee for laughing with Carlo Ancelotti after Chelsea defeat

Thomas Tuchel was furious with referee Szymon Marciniak after the Chelsea manager spotted the Polish match official sharing a joke with Carlo Ancelotti followingReal Madrid’s epic Champions League quarter-final victory.

A chaotic contest was finally settled in the sixth minute of extra-time when Karim Benzema pounced to score his fourth goal of the tie and secure an astonishing 5-4 victory on aggregate for the Spanish giants.

Chelsea looked to have completed a remarkable comeback when Timo Werner fired his side into a scarcely comprehensible 3-0 lead on the night with 15 minutes remaining, as the Blues wiped out the 3-1 deficit from the first leg.

Shortly before Werner’s strike, Marcos Alonso had a goal chalked off by the VAR for a minuscule handball offence and Tuchel was annoyed the referee wasn’t invited to check the pitch side monitor.

He told BT Sport: ‘I didn’t see the goal that was disallowed. I’m very, very disappointed for the referee that he does not check it by himself.

‘Absolutely disappointed feeling in both matches that it was 51 on the other side with all decisions made but that’s what it is if you play Real Madrid in the Champions League. Unlucky today.’

Tuchel expanded on his grievances in his post match press conference, and revealed he was particularly irked when he saw Marciniak sharing a lighthearted moment with Real manager Ancelotti.

He said: ‘I was disappointed that the referee had a good time with my colleague, Carlo Ancelotti. I know Carlo is a gentleman and 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.

‘I think this is the very, very wrong time to do this after a final whistle and 126 minutes where one team gave