After an absorbing and always tense Champions League semi-final first leg Bayern were forced to accept a 1–0 defeat, but their dream of defending the trophy is very much alive. “We have to turn it round in the return, we need ruthless finishing,” urged Matthias Sammer. Pep Guardiola acknowledged that the result was “not satisfactory” but still believes his team can make the final: “We need our fans to get behind us at the Allianz Arena.“
Reaction to Real v Bayern
Matthias Sammer: “We’ve lost 1–0. That’s a fact. We were dominant and controlled the play, but not the result. I don’t think any Bayern team has ever been so dominant here at the Bernabéu. But we have to turn it round in the return, we need ruthless finishing, and we need the crowd behind us. We can do it.“
Pep Guardiola: “It was a difficult match and the result is not satisfactory. We wanted a match where we controlled possession and made good transitions. We managed that to a certain extent. But our finishing let us down. Madrid always play like that. They let you play, but when they recover possession they charge upfield. They’re hard to stop because they’re so quick. But I’m very proud of my team. We dominated the game here at the Bernabéu. We’ve failed to score but we still have the return fixture. We’ll need two or three goals, and we need our fans at the Allianz Arena in the return.”
Philipp Lahm: “We lacked the little bit of luck you need and the killer attacking moves. You could see we were determined to win for the full 90 minutes. We knew Real would play defensively and use their superb counter-attacking players. We tried to stop them hitting us on the break. We succeeded at times, and at other times we didn’t. We were obviously hoping for a different result, but we have every chance of winning by two clear goals at home. I’ll go back to Munich feeling positive. Anything is possible at the Allianz Arena. We’ve often shown we’re capable of turning matches around.“
Manuel Neuer: “Real defended well and looked to hit us on the break, as we knew they would. It was tough for us, but we’ve still done a good job against these world-class players. We’re expecting the return to be similar. We have to prise them apart and create chances. We have to maintain concentration when we have the ball so we don’t get hit on the break. There’s everything to play for.“
Arjen Robben: “Overall I have to say all credit to the team. We gave it our best shot, we kept going and playing football, although we should have increased the pace at times. It’s a shame we’ve not scored. Centimetres make the difference, as we saw with Mario Götze’s chance in the second half. If one of those goes in we’d say it’s a good result. Real are incredibly dangerous on the break with so much pace and quality. But we’ll really go for it at home next week. I’m still positive and we go home now with plenty of belief.“
Thomas Müller: “Imagine this: Real Madrid pull everyone back to within 40 yards of their own goal on their home ground. We kept on battering away, and we were close to scoring at the end. We’ve not done so and we have to make up for that in the return. I think Real showed us massive respect. We need to turn that into goals next Tuesday. We have a huge task ahead of us.”
Carlo Ancelotti (Real coach): “Bayern started very well and put us under a lot of pressure. We were a little subdued and our pressing wasn’t very good. We were better in the second half. We’re very pleased because it’s never easy against Bayern. Bayern won’t change the way they play for the second leg. It’s still wide open and every outcome is possible. No-one knows what’s going to happen. We only hold a slender advantage.“
Sergio Ramos (Real centre-back): “It was a very intense game and very difficult. Bayern basically always dominate, but we worked very hard in defence and didn’t let them create much. It’s a very satisfying result for us. We can be pleased with the work put in by the whole team. We’re delighted we’ve come away with this result, but it isn’t good enough for us to feel safe. We’ll give it our best shot next week.”
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