Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel criticizes the referee for'smiling and laughing' with Carlo Ancelotti.

After Chelsea's Champions League exit, Thomas Tuchel chastised the referee for "smiling and laughing" with Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti.

Tuchel expressed his disappointment. At the final whistle, Szymon Marciniak appeared to be enjoying "a wonderful time with Carlo."

The Blues forced extra-time against the record 13-time champions at the Bernabeu after trailing 3-1 in the first leg before losing 5-4 on aggregate.

"I believe this is the absolute worst time to do it," Tuchel remarked.

"After 126 minutes, one team gave everything they had, fighting to the last drop.

"Carlo is a gentleman and a great guy, but when I went to thank the referee, I noticed him smiling and laughing loudly with the other coach.

"I believe that is extremely unfortunate timing."
When a Marcos Alonso shot was rejected for handball in the second half, Tuchel was irritated that the official did not examine the VAR monitor himself.

"When you play against Real Madrid, you can't expect everyone to be brave. Little decisions, I believe, went against us in the first leg and today as well "he stated

"I didn't witness the goal, but I told him how dissatisfied I was that he didn't go check it out for himself. You should stay the boss and not give decisions like this to somebody in a chair and isolated from the atmosphere.

"A referee has a specific style, things he permits and doesn't allow, so I believe he should remain in command and check everything on his own, then he could better explain it."

"However, this is merely my viewpoint." Perhaps it's too much to hope for in a battle against this opponent."

Despite my leaving, I have no regrets.
Despite Chelsea's elimination after coming so close to making a remarkable comeback, Tuchel declared he had "no regrets."

Many had written off Chelsea's prospects, but when Timo Werner scored in the 75th minute to make it 3-0 on the night, the Blues were 15 minutes away from achieving something incredible.

However, five minutes later, Rodrygo's volley leveled the scores on aggregate, before Karim Benzema - who had scored a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge six days earlier - headed the vital goal that pushed Real through.

"These are the kinds of defeats we can digest and swallow," Tuchel added, "because we left nothing to regret out there."

"It was never going to work out. Simply put, we were unlucky."

"We showed the team's quality and character, and we deserved to go through this. There is nothing to be sorry for."

The Chelsea manager, on the other hand, was scathing of the errors that led to Real's goals over two legs.

After Antonio Rudiger slipped in the box, Benzema scored in extra time.

"We had a massive disadvantage to overcome because we made a lot of mistakes in the first leg, and both goals today came from our mistakes," Tuchel explained.

"They took advantage of the individual mistakes with individual quality, and that was enough because we made too many of these large blunders throughout the two legs."

'We've been punished for our errors.'
Chelsea does not have much time to heal from their exit from Europe as they prepare for their second trip to Wembley this season.

On Sunday (16:30 BST), they take on Crystal Palace in an FA Cup semi-final, which is their last chance to win a major domestic title.

Despite winning the Fifa Club World Cup and the Uefa Super Cup, they lost a penalty shootout to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final and are now 12 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City with only eight games remaining.

"The good is that we didn't give up," Rudiger stated.

"Not many teams can come and dominate Real Madrid as we did. But over the two legs, if you make these kinds of mistakes as we did, you get punished.

"It was a do or die for us. I think before the game not everybody thought we would have the 3-0. For them, the individual class comes to light with Luka Modric and Benzema."

'Chelsea put their hearts and souls into it,' observed the analysts. Former England goalkeeper Rob Green is concerned that the energy-sapping 120 minutes in Spain's capital may affect Chelsea's preparations for Wembley.

"Chelsea put a lot of money into the game. Green commented on BBC Radio 5 Live, "They poured their hearts and souls into this game."

"Real Madrid appeared to be in disarray. They acted as if they didn't know what they were doing, as if they lacked confidence. They do, however, have players who create moments."

Karen Carney, a former England midfielder, told 5 Live: "You can't complain." This wasn't the leg that knocked Chelsea out.

"Over the course of the two legs, they have given up five goals. They were built on defense last season. You must have a blank-slate mentality. They are prone to leaving themselves vulnerable at times."