Bayern’s run of 13 wins on the trot in all competitions came to an end on Saturday in a 1-1 draw with Nürnberg, but coach Louis van Gaal sprang to his team’s defence. “It was one of our best performances,“ the boss insisted. “We deserved more from the game,“ said FCB captain Mark van Bommel, “we defended well for all but 30 seconds. It’s ended 1-1, the wrong result, but these things happen.”
Reaction to Nürnberg v Bayern:
Louis van Gaal: “We were much better today than against Fiorentina, it was one of our best performances. Nürnberg pulled eleven men back into their own half, our movement and positioning was very good, but we didn’t score the goals. Nürnberg battled incredibly hard, created one chance, and scored from it.“
Mark van Bommel: “Naturally, from a statistical point of view, the moment where we dropped points again was always coming closer. We played better than against Fiorentina. We controlled possession better and switched wings a lot. We didn’t create many chances, but it’s always difficult against opponents who’ve set out their stall for a goalless draw and do nothing but defend. Nürnberg pulled ten or eleven men back, stayed close to their own goal, and had two shots at ours. We kept it tight and defended well for all but 30 seconds. It’s ended 1-1, the wrong result, but these things happen. I don’t think we can be accused of carelessness today. We deserved more from the game.“
Dieter Hecking (Nürnberg coach): “In the first half, we did a lot of things right in defence, but we didn’t believe in ourselves as an attacking force. The consequence of that was Bayern putting together one really good attacking move and scoring. Thankfully, in the second half we punished Bayern for their very first mistake and equalised. At that point, we realised we could get something from the match if we kept it tight and played as a team. We deserved the point for effort, although it goes down as fortunate.”
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