On an agonising evening for Bayern, the men from Munich suffered a 2-1 away defeat against 1. FC Saarbrücken on Wednesday and were eliminated from the DFB Cup. “This is not at all what we aspire to,” commented Thomas Müller after the final whistle. “We created enough chances and half-chances. It's really bitter. We can't make up for it any more,” said head coach Thomas Tuchel. fcbayern.com summarises the reaction.
Reaction to Saarbrücken vs. Bayern
Christoph Freund: “We had a very poor first half, without aggression and energy. Then it's a cup game and things take their course. It's really bitter. We have only ourselves to blame. We feel huge disappointment. We were determined to make it to Berlin. Unfortunately, a huge goal of ours is now gone. Dortmund will be a completely different game. We have to get over our disappointment and get back on our feet. We're travelling to Dortmund to compete as Bayern Munich and take something home.”
Thomas Tuchel: “We fought our way into the game in the second half. We were handed a very bitter pill to swallow with the last move of the match. There are 100 explanations, or possibly none. It feels strange. We created enough chances and half-chances. It's really bitter. We can't make up for it any more. We are utterly disappointed. We were desperate to go to Berlin. We took the lead, then we didn't play well any more. In the second half we lacked the punch and a little bit of luck to score the second goal. Congratulations to our opponents.”
Thomas Müller: “You can find many reasons. We should have done better in many situations. You have to congratulate Saarbrücken for the fight they put up. We simply weren't clever, particularly for the first goal we conceded. Then we concede the second goal in added time. Prior to that, we had several chances, we were completely on top and showed plenty of drive towards the opposition goal. We're playing again on Saturday. There's not much to think about now, even if it's a brutal blow for us. This is not at all what we aspire to.”
Reaction from the Saarbrücken camp
Jürgen Luginger (Saarbrücken sporting director): “It's sensational. Obviously, you dream about this and I can hardly believe it. We had a tiny glimmer of hope something like this might happen. It's simply phenomenal.”
Rüdiger Ziehl (Saarbrücken head coach): “It's just madness. It had to happen in regular time because we wouldn't have made it through 120 minutes. We had to run and suffer a lot today. That’s the reason why we made attacking substitutions. How the team performed and tapped into their last reserves is simply unfathomable. It was a performance driven by willpower, and I’m incredibly proud of the team.”
Manuel Zeitz (Saarbrücken): “My head’s a total mess at the moment. I don't even know how to be happy, because nobody expected this. Of course, you're hoping the game can be exciting, but you also know you can get kicked in the teeth. That's why it's a little surreal to see it's 2-1 to us on the scoreboard.”
The match report:
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