‘He dived’ – Ancelotti hits back at Bayern complaints over controversial offside call

epa10928762 Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti speaks during a press conference after the training session at Valdebebas Sports Complex in Madrid, central Spain, 20 October 2023. Real Madrid will face Sevilla in a LaLiga match on 21 October. EPA-EFE/Sergio Perez

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti hits back at Bayern Munich’s complaints that the linesman should have kept the flag down in the final minutes of a Champions League semifinal second leg: ‘So we complain about the cancelled goal of Nacho.’

Former Italy international Ancelotti became the first coach to reach the Champions League Final six times, beating Bayern Munich 4-3 on aggregate.

Wednesday’s 2-1 win at the Bernabeu was inspired by Madrid’s super-sub Joselu, but there was controversy at the end of the match when one of the assistants flagged a Bayern player offside. Matthijs de Ligt found the net from the resulting header, but play had already been stopped.

Bayern players and coach Thomas Tuchel complained after the match, but Ancelotti hits back at the Germans at a post-match press conference.

Ancelotti hits back at Bayern complaints over controversial offside call

“Bayern complained about the offside? Ok, so we complain about the cancelled goal of Nacho… because Kimmich dived,” the Italian said.

“If they complain about that, then we can complain about our disallowed goal. Both players were pushing each other and it’s Nacho who gets penalised.”

Real Madrid’s equaliser was cancelled out after a VAR check at minute 73 as Spanish defender Nacho pushed Kimmich, hitting the Germany international in the neck.