The Bayern camp was understandably despondent after Thursday’s heavy defeat in St Petersburg. “Obviously, we’re extremely disappointed,” commented Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, “we’re not used to losing 4-0. We came here intending to play better football and achieve a better result.“ Despite the misery, a handful of players took reporters’ questions afterwards.
Reaction to St Petersburg v Bayern:
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: ”Obviously, we’re extremely disappointed we’ve not made the final in Manchester. We’re not used to losing 4-0. We came here intending to play better football and achieve a better result. However, we’ve won two trophies, the league and the DFB Cup. If we’d been offered that before the season, we’d have taken it. We came up against opponents who played superbly tonight. Let’s not forget the Russian championship only started a few weeks ago, St. Petersburg are relatively fresh – you saw it in the challenges, they were more eager and determined. We’ve been playing three times a week for months, and our opponents were simply in great shape today, fresher and fitter, whereas we were running on empty. We resisted well, at least until it was 2-0, we had a few chances, but there was no way back after it was 2-0.“
Ottmar Hitzfeld: ”We obviously turned in a shocking display today and completely handed them the initiative. The team still gave it their best shot, but there are days when you’re never going to score. In Europe, you’ll never get away with the mistakes we made. We’ve not been as strong in Europe as we have been in the Bundesliga.“
Luca Toni: ”We have to apologise to our fans. We didn’t turn up for the match. It wasn’t that we were unlucky, it was simply the worst I can ever remember us playing.“
Philipp Lahm: ”It’s not easy finding the words after a match like that. We simply fell short, we’ve been letting in too many goals. We’ve often played well this season, so it’s not as if we’re suddenly useless. But we played badly today, and we’re deservedly out of the competition.“
Dick Advocaat (St. Petersburg coach): ”We were unbelievable today. I’ve never seen anything like it before. The most important thing today was that we denied Bayern space. Bayern never got going, and I want to praise my players for that. It was our day today.“
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