Thomas Tuchel says the linesman has apologised after Bayern Munich saw a late equaliser at Real Madrid controversially not given.
After Joselu scored two late goals off the bench for Madrid in their stunning Champions League semi-final turnaround, Bayern believed they had sent the tie to extra-time.
In the 13th minute of second-half stoppage-time, Matthijs de Ligt scored inside the area but referee Szymon Marciniak blew for an offside flag just before.
Bayern’s celebrations quickly turned to protests, with replays showing that it was a very tight call on Noussair Mazraoui but the linesman’s early flag meant VAR couldn’t check it.
It resulted in the German giants crashing out of the Champions League in dramatic circumstances and boss Tuchel vented his frustrations at the manner in which they fell to defeat.
Speaking to TNT Sports, he said: “A disastrous decision from the linesman and from the referee… it feels almost like a betrayal in the end because of that decision.”
He later added: “The linesman said sorry but that does not help. At that kind of level, to raise the flag in a decision like this, a close decision in the last minute.
“And the referee as well, the referee does not have to whistle. He sees that we win the second ball, he sees that we get a shot away. To whistle is a very, very bad decision.
“It’s against the rules and it’s a bad decision from both of them, it’s a disaster. Tough to swallow but that’s the way it is.”
De Ligt was also angered by the decision as he told beIN SPORTS: “I think this is a big, big, big mistake. If it’s offside or not, I don’t know, you can check it but if you don’t check it how can you see it?”
He added: “The linesman said to me, ‘Sorry, I made a mistake.’ Yeah, I buy nothing from that.”
Defeat marks a sorry end to Tuchel’s spell in charge at Bayern ahead of his summer exit as the club have missed out on silverware entirely this season.
They most notably lost the Bundesliga title to Bayer Leverkusen and have therefore failed to win the German top-flight for the first time in 12 years.
Winning the Champions League was also that they had left to fight for this season and after a 2-2 first leg draw, they took the lead in the second leg through Alphonso Davies.
But Madrid substitue Joselu was on hand to capitalise on a mistake from Manuel Neuer with two minutes to play to score a crucial equaliser.
He then netted again three minutes later, with the striker adjudged to have been narrowly onside from Antonio Rudiger’s cross from the left after a VAR check for the winner in a 4-3 aggregate victory.
The offside drama followed deep into stoppage-time to cap off yet another dramatic night of Champions League football.
Madrid now have the chance to win a record 15th title when they faced Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium on June 1.