English referee Anthony Taylor made a swift exit from the Stuttgart Arena on Friday after Germany's staff reacted furiously to his decision not to award them a penalty during Spain's 2-1 win over the Euro 2024 hosts, according to reports.
Booking their place in Tuesday's semi-final against France, Spain dumped Germany out of the tournament in extra time, courtesy of Mikel Merino's 119th-minute winner after Florian Wirtz's late goal in normal time cancelled out Dani Olmo's opener.
The decisive moment of the gripping match came during the first half of extra time, when Jamal Musiala's shot from distance struck the hand of Spain defender Marc Cucurella.
Despite passionate appeals from the Julian Nagelsmann's side, Taylor chose not to award a penalty in a decision that was supported by video assistant referee Stuart Attwell.
According to Germany outlet Bild, Nagelsmann's assistant manager Sandro Wagner was seen storming into Taylor's dressing room after the match and was heard 'loudly insulting' the referee.
Germany's staff reacted furiously to Anthony Taylor's decision not to award them a penalty in Friday's 2-1 defeat by Spain, 'loudly insulting' the referee in his dressing room after the match
Jamal Musiala's shot struck the hand of Spain's Marc Cucurella in the penalty box in extra time
Germany's players immediately appealed to Taylor to award a penalty - but it wasn't given
Just over an hour after the final whistle, Taylor was pictured in a black Mercedes leaving the stadium.
The newspaper, clearly angry with Taylor's decision, claims the referee 'fled' the stadium as a result and highlighted it was 'interesting' that he didn't stick around to explain his decision.
Nagelsmann said furiously after the match: 'It wasn't deserved today and the referee blew in favour of Spain a little,' said Nagelsmann. 'It was a clear penalty.'
'When the ball is clearly heading for the goal, the Spaniard stops the ball with his hand. He doesn't do it on purpose, but that doesn't matter.'
'The penalty we got against Denmark was much less of a penalty. I cannot understand why it was not evaluated, even though there were 48,000 replays.'
Germany's fury drew comparisons to Jose Mourinho's anger at Taylor following Roma's Europa League final defeat by Sevilla in 2023.
Germany assistant boss Sandro Wagner stormed into Taylor's dressing room after the match
Youngster Florian Wirtz was among the Germany players to demand an extra time spot kick
Jose Mourinho furiously confronted Taylor in a car park after the 2023 Europa League final
Mourinho labelled the English official a 'f***ing disgrace' for making 'bull****' decisions after the match and confronted him in an extraordinary row at the Puskas Arena.
Waiting for him in the car park, Mourinho said 'f*** off' to Taylor in the car park and called him a 'f***ing disgrace' before trudging off to the team mini-bus.
Mourinho's homeland Portugal were knocked out of Euro 2024 on penalties following Germany's bitter defeat, with Joao Felix missing the decisive penalty in the quarter-final.