FC Bayern lost 2-1 against Mainz on Saturday in their final away game of the year. Leroy Sané got a goal back in the 87th minute, but it was all too late to overturn a brace from Jae-Sung Lee. “In the end, you’ve got to say that Mainz deserved it. Mainz were sharper and more aggressive in the individual duels,” said board member for sport Max Eberl. “Mainz played a good game and forced us to get involved in the things they do well – the second balls, the persistent little fouls, and the one-on-one duels,” said Thomas Müller. fcbayern.com has compiled the post-match reaction.
Reaction to the Mainz match
Max Eberl (board member for sport): "In the end, you’ve got to say that Mainz deserved it. Mainz were sharper and more aggressive in the individual duels. We weren’t happy with ourselves for losing the duels. We rarely had control of the match, allowed Mainz to impose their game upon us and were unable to turn it around at the end. We’ve made no excuses from day one. We have the quality to win games like these. Today we made too many mistakes. We have more games to play and have to win these games, if we want to be champions. It’s still a long road ahead of us. The quality of our players is there. We can’t deny that we wanted it today. But we didn’t do well in terms of our play. Now, we have to pick ourselves back up and get the points on Friday against Leipzig.”
Vincent Kompany: "Congratulations to Mainz. We played against a lively and spirited team. They were prepared to fight in every moment. We weren’t lacking our fighting spirit, though. We tried, but we’ve also done far better in the past. We weren’t at our best today. We’ve lost now – that always hurts - but we can still win plenty more in the future. The feeling here is that the team always wants to continue to take steps to improve. The game is over and we’ll use this defeat to build fire over the next few days before the Leipzig game on Friday.”
Thomas Müller: "Mainz played a good game and forced us to get involved in the things they do well – the second balls, the persistent little fouls, and the one-on-one duels. To link play up when being pressed man-to-man on a pitch like this in December is not so easy. In the end, it’s about hitting the target and Mainz kept on doing so. We didn’t play a bad game per se – you could see our commitment. We failed to hit the target too often inside the box. The intensity wasn’t lacking today. In a physical game like today, it’s all about winning your individual duels and scoring goals.”
Joshua Kimmich: "Mainz had good variety. They played a lot of incisive balls and made the game very physical. They always tried to play their game in our half. In the first half, we didn’t manage to calm the game down, to take emotions out of it and to take control of the match. They were also very efficient and were driven on by emotion. Mainz did well but we didn’t manage to carve out enough chances. It’s crucial that we stand together and continue to work hard in a moment like this. It'll be important to win our last game. Every player has to make sure that we go into Friday at our absolute highest level. Leipzig must face us at our best.”
Reaction from the Mainz camp
Niko Bungert (sporting director): "In contrast to the cup game, that was a completely different team in every regard. It was a team that has built up incredible self-belief in the last few weeks. We’ve taken the right steps. The team and the coaching staff have done a fantastic job. We’ve reached a different level of confidence and our quality on the pitch keeps going up and up. That was the icing on the cake today, winning deservedly against a team like Bayern Munich. Simply put, the team is stable at the moment, and we can compensate for absences.”
Bo Henriksen (head coach): "It’s a better feeling than the last two times. We set ourselves up very well – tactically too. We were simply at it, and that’s important when you’re playing against Bayern Munich, who are one of the best teams in the world. You have to be at it and you have to be brave – and we were. The key today was to be brave on the ball and to use the space. From a tactical point of view too, it was a great day today.”
Stefan Bell (defender): "It feels good when you can celebrate a win like today, and that you feel that it’s deserved. Bayern started as the better side. Over the course of the first half, we reacted tactically and became more sure of ourselves. Then the game was really even and we took the lead during a good spell.”
Read about the most important moments in the match report:
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