Rafael van der Vaart has blasted Thomas Tuchel’s behaviour after Chelsea’s Champions League defeat to Real Madrid and says the German coach went down in his estimations.
The Blues gave a superb display at the Bernabeu despite leaving the competition, taking a 3-0 lead only to be undone by a magical assist from Luka Modric for Rodrygo to level the scores on aggregate before Benzema netted an extra-time winner.
After the game, Tuchel directed his frustrations towards the referee and criticised Szymon Marciniak for laughing and shaking hands with Carlo Ancelotti.
‘I was disappointed that the referee had a good time with my colleague Ancelotti. I know that Carlo is a gentleman and a nice guy and when I go I see him smiling and laughing out loud with the opposition coach,’ said Tuchel in his post-match press conference.
‘I think this is a very, very wrong time to do this at the end of 120 minutes of fight, when you give every last drop, to go [and see that]. I think this is very, very bad timing.’
But Van der Vaart, who played for both Real Madrid and Tottenham, felt Tuchel’s complaints bordered on the ridiculous and slammed the coach for being a sore loser.
Speaking about Tuchel’s comments on Dutch TV station Ziggo Sport, Van der Vaart said: ‘I like respect. If you win, give respect to the opponent, and if you lose I think respect is even more beautiful.
‘Carlo Ancelotti, for example, never does anything wrong. Never. But then you see this dragon [beastly, angry person]… I can only call it a dragon!
‘If I had been Tuchel’s assistant I would have said, “We all lose sometimes, but do it with style.” ‘Chelsea played a fantastic game and they have a great coach, I am one hundred per cent convinced of that.
‘But if you lose and then you give this interview… that’s what makes me fume. What is Ancelotti supposed to do? Cry? They call [Tuchel] one of the best coaches in the world. Well, not now.
‘This just comes off as really bad. You shouldn’t say this. As a coach you should just say that you are proud of your team. It’s not important whether a referee is smiling or not.’
