Bayern fumes at call that ended their trophy shot

An offside call at the death has drawn criticism after Bayern Munich's equalising goal was disallowed in their UEFA Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.

Into the 13th minute of added time, the assistant referee raised his flag on the sideline and the referee blew his whistle for offside as the ball was fired by Matthijs de Ligt into the back of the net (video above).

With the whistle already blown to stop play, Real Madrid didn't defend the shot on goal.

Watch football's biggest clubs and best players in the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League, streaming ad free, live and exclusive on Stan Sport

Upon review, the assistant referee's offside call on Thomas Muller appeared to be wrong. 

Because the referee blew his whistle and stopped play, the passage couldn't be reviewed by the video assistant referee.

The goal would have put them level with Real Madrid. Instead, they lost 2-1 in the match and 4-3 on aggregate across the two matches.

READ MORE: Acid attack leaves football star in 'critical' condition

READ MORE: Leaked email shines new light on Thomas issues

READ MORE: Gould urges Blues to ignore 'grossly unfair' selection

"We're also a bit angry because of the last decision to give offside and whistle the offside, which is not an offside. So that makes it very, very hard to swallow," said Bayern Munich head coach Thomas Tuchel.

"We were almost there. We had a big fight and okay, that's how it is. The first mistake is that he lifts the flag because he can never be sure that this is offside. Never. And the referee sees that we win the rebound and we get the chance to shoot and he whistles. 

"So this is the second big mistake in one action. This is very, very hard to swallow because it feels that they got anxious in the last minute here."https://twitter.com/StanSportFC/status/1788349261660541065

Former Socceroos player and Stan Sport commentator Craig Foster said the wrong call was made but couldn't be reversed as the Real Madrid players had stopped contesting the ball.

"In a goal-scoring situation, he doesn't need to blow his whistle and he should let it go on," said Foster on Stan Sport's gameday coverage.

"I don't think he's off-side. Then what happens? The whistle goes, people stop, and now you score. So Bayern are incensed because they're saying 'Hang on a minute, you should go to VAR because we've scored it', which is true. The referee messed it up there. However, the problem is they think they're denied a goal. No, because Real Madrid aren't defending."

Former Premier League goalkeeper Mark Bosnich added, "You don't raise your flag. If you're unsure, you don't raise your flag. We've seen that, time and time again."

The UEFA Champions League final will take place on June 2 at Wembley Stadium.