Thomas Tuchel was very mad at Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg after Bayern Munich did not get a strange penalty in their 2-2 draw in the Arsenal in the Champions League quarter final on Tuesday evening.
Arsenal and Bayern played to a thrilling draw at the Emirates Stadium, and Mikel Arteta’s team was very upset at the end because Bukayo Saka did not get a penalty after colliding with Manuel Neuer inside the box.
However, Tuchel admits that he and his Bayern players were also very angry after not getting a penalty in the second half due to a mix-up between Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya and Gabriel Magalhaes.
After the referee Nyberg blew the whistle to restart play, Raya passed the ball to Gabriel who was standing just a few yards away. However, Gabriel picked up the ball before placing it back down on the pitch and passing it back to Raya.
Harry Kane and Serge Gnabry immediately called for a penalty, but Nyberg refused to award one, and Tuchel claimed that the referee did not want to penalize a ‘kid’s mistake’.
‘It was a bit tough, I felt like a lot, a lot of little decisions against us,’ Tuchel said after the game.
‘I felt a bit of a push from the crowd, which was a fantastic crowd.
‘And, for me, and for all of us he did a huge mistake in not giving a penalty.
‘I know it’s crazy situation but they put the ball down, he whistles, they give the ball free and the defender takes the ball in his hand.
‘What makes us really angry is the explanation on the field. He [the referee] told our players that it’s a kid’s mistake and he will not give a penalty like this in a quarter final.
‘This is a horrible, horrible explanation because that means he’s judging our handballs. Kid’s mistake, adult’s mistake, or whatever.
‘We feel angry because it’s a huge decision against us but okay, it’s 2-2, things are now totally even and we have a second leg to play and we hope we can create the same atmosphere and play with the same intensity and passion like today to create the same atmosphere in our stadium and push things in our direction.’
.
.
