Thomas Tuchel once tagged Clement Turpin, who will officiate the Three Lions’ first match of the FIFA World Cup against Croatia on Wednesday, a “Grade E” referee, Yankee Scores reports.
This is a French football referee who issued Thomas Tuchel, then coach of Bayern Munich, two yellow cards in their Champions League quarter-final match against Manchester City at Allianz Arena in April 2023.
Turpin showed five yellow cards in the first half of the match, as well as a direct red card to Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano after he tackled Erling Haaland in the box, only for VAR to overturn that ruling, per BBC Sports.
“Grade E” claims
As a result, Bayern’s 4-1 aggregate defeat led Tuchel to make a post-match remark, which he claimed the “referee, unfortunately, was Grade E.”
“I’d give him a one out of 10. He was absolutely terrible. It’s unbelievable at this level.
“He was whistling for everything and anything. Everything was against us.
“In the end, we were never in a position to turn things around with three men against us. That’s a fact.”
England midfielder Jude Bellingham has also been at the receiving end of Turpin’s straightforward and practical style of officiating.
While playing for Real Madrid, Bellingham had Turpin move him away from the penalty area as he attempted to distract Bayern’s Harry Kane while taking a penalty.
Despite past clashes with Tuchel and Bellingham, Turpin remains one of Europe’s top referees, as he has officiated the finals of the 2021 Europa League and 2022 Champions League.
Turpin was even chosen as one of the referees for Euro 2024, where he officiated England’s goalless match against Slovenia.
