De Ligt slams late referee call: "I don't want to say that the referees are always on Real's side, but..."

Matthijs de Ligt found the net late in Bayern Munich's 2-1 Champions League semi-final defeat to Real Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, but the goal didn't count because referee Szymon Marciniak blew for offside before the ball fell to the Dutchman.

Speaking to DAZN after the game, de Ligt hit out at Marciniak for blowing the whistle early instead of letting the situation play out and making a decision later with the help of VAR.

“I don't understand it, you have to let the game go on. You don't do that. That's the very clear rule,” de Ligt said. 

“I don't want to say that the referees are always on Real's side, but today it made the difference.”

In a separate interview with beIN Sports, de Ligt also spoke critically of the situation.

“I think it's a big mistake. It's a big disgrace. If it was offside or not, I don't know, you can check it. But if you don't check it, how can you see it?” he said.

“The linesman told me 'I'm sorry, I made a mistake'. I don't give much for that. At the end of the day, I'm not the type of person to blame the referee for a defeat. Madrid deserved to win because they won 2-1, but if it's a rule, it's a rule.”

Generally, De Ligt was pleased with Bayern's performance, but naturally disappointed with the result.

“I think we produced a solid performance for 90 minutes, very mature, very compact and defended really well. We also had really big chances to create something and that was maybe the one thing missing,” he told DAZN.

"It's good when you play like that for so long against Madrid, in the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, but it’s such a shame when you – like so often against Real Madrid – give the game away.”