Following Bayern Munich’s 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid, defender Matthijs de Ligt revealed that the linesman personally apologized to him for an error made during the Champion League semi-final second leg.
Despite Alphonso Davies giving Bayern the lead with a stunning goal in the 68th minute, Real Madrid secured a comeback victory with Joselu scoring twice in the late stages (88′, 90+1′).
Real Madrid will advance to the final to face Borussia Dortmund after this victory.
De Ligt expressed his frustration after a disallowed goal due to an offside call despite believing it wasn’t clear-cut: “If it’s offside, it’s offside. But I think we made rules in football and the rules say if it isn’t clear offside, which it wasn’t, because I haven’t seen it yet, of course I don’t know.” He emphasized the importance of continuing to play until the final whistle instead of prematurely stopping the game due to controversial calls.
He recounted the linesman’s apology to him, stating that the official admitted the mistake: “The linesman said to me, ‘I am sorry, I made a mistake.’ In the end, you know, I am not the type of person to blame the rules or the referee.”