Tuesday saw Real Madrid and Chelsea play out an absolutely breathtaking 120 minutes of football. The two European giants locked horns for the second leg of their quarterfinal showdown, with Los Blancos boasting a huge 3-1 lead from the 1st leg, meaning a historic comeback was needed for the Blues to progress.
And the London giants came achingly close to pulling that off. Tuchel's men went 3-0 up in the 75th minute and were thus on track to make the semifinals until Luka Modric brilliantly assisted Rodrygo for the Merengues' first goal five minutes later, which pulled the game back level.
Extra time was thus required and here is where Karim Benzema exhibited his quality, scoring past Edouard Mendy once again to make it 2-3. This is how the score line remained until the final whistle and while Ancelotti's men lost the game, they went through on aggregate, emerging victorious courtesy of a 5-4 score line.
Speaking after the match, a disappointed and heartbroken Thomas Tuchel spoke about his players with immense pride, and understandably so, as they were the better side, having put in a valiant display at the famous Santiago Bernabeu stadium. However, the German boss admitted to being frustrated by one man during the tie and that was the referee.
The Stamford Bridge tactician had a few issues with yesterday's match official, accusing him of favoring Real Madrid with his calls, although he stopped short of naming any contentious decision. Additionally, Tuchel was not happy with the manner in which Marcus Alonso's goal was ruled out, as it was deemed a handball by VAR, arguing that referee Szymon Marciniak should have gone over to the screen to review the footage himself.
"It's not only today; it was like this in the first leg," Thomas said when asked about yesterday's officiating, as per the Guardian. "Maybe I get problems [if I talk]. If you play against Real Madrid, you can maybe expect that not everybody has the courage.
"I told him I am super disappointed that he doesn't come and check [the footage of the handball] on his own. You should stay the boss and not give the decision to someone sitting in a chair, isolated from the atmosphere. He should stay in charge and check it on his own and explain it better. I thought we deserved more minutes [added on] at the end. Maybe it is too much to ask for in matches like this against this opponent. Listen, we had it in our hands and we were not lucky enough.
"We played a fantastic match, we deserved what we had, we scored four goals and we had big chances to score even more. Unfortunately, we had two mistakes in crucial moments and against Real Madrid. We deserved to go through. But it was not meant to be. You need luck and it was not on our side."
However, that wasn't the head coach's only issue. He also added that the Polish referee went on to greet and laugh with Carlo Ancelotti straight after the final whistle, an act the Chelsea boss saw as insensitive after such a gut-wrenching UEFA Champions League exit for the visitors.
"I was disappointed that the referee had a good time with my colleague Ancelotti," Tuchel added.
"I know that Carlo is a gentleman and a nice guy and when I go I see him smiling and laughing out loud with the opposition coach and I think this is very, very wrong time to do this at the end of 120 minutes of fight, when you give every last drop, to go [and see that]. I think this is very, very bad timing."
With Chelsea having been eliminated from Europe, the Premier League giants are now left with only one route to silverware this season: the FA Cup. Havertz and Co. have sealed their spot in the semifinals, but with the London heavyweights set to face an in-form Crystal Palace this Sunday at Wembley, the Blues must regroup and maintain their form if they wish to make the final.
