Bayern turned in a strong performance against Borussia Dortmund but lost 3-2 on Saturday. "We were in control in the first half, but Dortmund controlled the second," summarised Niko Kovac: "We closed down the centre very well in the first half, pushing our opponents to the flanks. We didn't succeed at that in the second half," the coach continued.
Reaction to Dortmund v Bayern
Niko Kovac: "We saw a fantastic match from both teams today. It was an open contest. We were in control in the first half, Dortmund controlled the second. We bounced back after the early equaliser. Then we conceded two goals on the break, that shouldn't be happening. We closed down the centre very well in the first half, pushing our opponents to the flanks. We didn't succeed at that in the second half, so they had chances. Unfortunately we lost the match even though it could perfectly well have ended in a draw. We can be satisfied with the performance. It was our best match since Schalke, in terms of technique, fighting spirit and tactics, especially in the first half. We have to build on it and turn in similar displays in the future."
Manuel Neuer: "We were in the lead at half-time thanks to a good performance. The mistakes we made were the problem. Dortmund counter-attacked on their home turf and created five or six highly dangerous situations, converting three of them into goals. We knew that's their strength, but unfortunately we let them do it. Our performance wasn't bad but we lacked the cleverness to take the three points. That would have been absolutely possible."
Mats Hummels: "We played well for long spells. The second equaliser completely opened up a game we'd controlled well. We didn't stifle the counter-attacks after that. They had big chances, we lost control."
Lucien Favre (Borussia Dortmund coach): "It was a completely crazy match. Bayern were very strong at the beginning. They were clearly in control, they had a lot of possesssion while we couldn't win the ball. When we did we gave it away immediately. But I knew they'd be unable to keep up the pace, the tempo was very high. Counterpressing, pressing, gaining possession, everything was perfect. We couldn't keep the ball, it was like a boomerang. We had to wait, so we waited, and fortunately we were only one down at half-time. We corrected a few things. We hadn't been proactive enough before that, and Bayern had been too strong. The crowd got right behind us after Reus' goal, we felt we could win the match, and we did. The attitude was fantastic."
Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund captain): "We didn't find a way into the match in the first half. We didn't have a lot of confidence. Bayern had a lot of possession and pressed well. We didn't really get a grip, especially in the first half-hour. We rarely pressed as we had planned. We did that in the second half. We attacked and were more confident in our moves. We earned our reward. It was an awesome match, it was fun."
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