Matthis de Ligt has revealed that the referee apologized to him for his incorrect call-in Bayern Munich'is dramatic Champions League semi-final defeat to Real Madrid – but his apology has been firmly rejected by the German giants.
Bayern crashed out of the competition after a 4–3 aggregate defeat at the Bernabéu undone on Wednesday evening by two goals in the space of three minutes from substitute Joselu.
The visitors thought they had equalized in the 13the minute of extra time when De Ligt drilled through after a knockdown from Thomas Muller.
However, the referee's whistle blew as the defender's shot hit the back of the net, with Noussair Mazraoui ruled offside in the build-up.
However, replays immediately showed that the full-back was onside, but because play had already stopped, VAR could not intervene.
Bayern was furious about the decision Thomas Tuchel describes it as a 'disastrous betrayal'. De Ligt himself later revealed that match referee Szymon Marciniak approached him after the match to apologize.
“The linesman said to me: I'm sorry, I made a mistake, I can't buy anything for that,” he said.
'I'm not the type of person who wants to blame the referee for a loss or a win, but it means you have to win because you win 2-1. I guess if it's a rule, it's a rule.'
De Ligt was not in a forgiving mood, nor was Bayern's sporting director Max Eberl, who insisted the club would 'not care' about any regrets from the match officials.
“He blew the whistle, so no video assistant can intervene because he was in front of the goal,” Eberl said. 'The referee said it was his fault. We don't care.'
He continued, “Logically, that's a mistake. We don't need the football rules, we know exactly what is going on.
“And if a situation hasn't been played yet, it's played and played and then checked.” I will keep my fingers crossed for BVB in the final.'
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