FC Bayern have planted one foot firmly in the Champions League quarter-finals following the 5-0 victory over Besiktas, but the players refused to descend into euphoria. "Our play lacked calmness in the first half," said Joshua Kimmich, identifying room for improvement. However, the men from Munich were pleased with the second half and with the final scoreline.
Reaction to Bayern v Besiktas
Jupp Heynckes: "We were nervous at the beginning, we failed to set up sustained passing combinations at first. The early sending-off and the opener before the break were key points. Besiktas had to run more when they were a man down. We had more pace and fluency in the second half, and that's really tough for opponents."
Thomas Müller: "The red card played right into our hands. We lacked aggression when we had the ball in the first half, we were a bit sluggish. It changed abruptly in the second half, we really hit the gas. The Turks were tired then. It's a superb result with regard to the return leg. We knew we had to deliver because it will be a different game altogether in Turkey."
Joshua Kimmich: "At the end of the day it was clear-cut of course. We were lucky with regard to the red card but our play lacked calmness in the first half, we allowed them a number of chances. The first half wasn't so good. It was impressive that we kept going after we scored the third. It was a deserved victory."
Senol Günes (Besiktas coach): "Our opponents were better than us today. We'd have liked to play better but when we were reduced to ten men after 15 minutes we struggled. We collapsed in terms of stamina and attitude. They really made the most of it in the second half, we didn't have any impetus in attack. We tried to close the gaps at the back, we failed to do it. More wasn't possible today. The red card broke our resistance today. You could see the gap in class."
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