Reaction to Bayer Leverkusen match - Vincent Kompany: 'Incredibly proud of the mental effort'

There were plenty of talking points in Bayern’s Bundesliga game away at Bayer Leverkusen, but at the end of it all the Matchday 26 fixture finished 1-1 at the BayArena. It was a hard-fought point for the league leaders, who finished with nine men after having two players sent off but also had two goals ruled out. “Today we had to deal with lots of difficult situations and decisions. But the decisive thing is how you deal with it as a team. I think we did an amazing job today,” said Jonathan Tah afterwards. Head coach Vincent Kompany could only echo those thoughts, adding, “I’m so incredibly proud of the guys’ mental effort.” fcbayern.com rounds up the reaction to the game in Leverkusen.

Reaction to the match at Bayer Leverkusen

Vincent Kompany: “I’m so incredibly proud of the guys’ mental effort. There was so much going on today, so many important phases that we’ll have lots of different opinions about. That obviously influenced the match. We made a mistake at the start and conceded but were still always in the game. It was a resolute performance by Leverkusen. We needed a lot of patience.”

Jonathan Tah: “Whether a point is more valuable than a win depends on how the game goes. You always want to win and get three points, but today we had to deal with lots of difficult situations and decisions. I don’t want to talk too much about that. Some of them were questionable for me. But the decisive thing is how you deal with it as a team. I think we did an amazing job today, so it feels good heading off the pitch and knowing we gave our all. Everyone wanted to give their all today. We didn’t want to accept difficult situations bringing us down. That shows the strength of this team. That’s exactly what we need in the coming games. If we perform like this – and with 11 men on the pitch – then things will look very different in the end.”

Sven Ulreich: “When you haven’t played for as long as me, it’s obviously different from training. The gaps are different; the situations are different. You need a few minutes to get back into it. I think I was well in the game in the end and had fun. We didn’t settle well in the first few minutes. Leverkusen did well there. We lost the ball a bit easily out wide, they came forward and we could’ve defended better. It’s then annoying with the ball getting deflected and going in. Otherwise it was maybe a chance for a first save. But I felt the confidence during the week. The guys have known me a long time and know I’m there when needed. You could sense that this week in training. They have full confidence in me. And we have a great team of goalkeepers. Both guys messaged me before the game to wish me luck and were happy I got to play today. There’s real harmony in our goalkeeping group. I’m pleased to be a part of that and this team.”

Reaction from Bayer Leverkusen

Janis Blaswich (goalkeeper): “It’s tough to concede the goal the way we did. We had the chance to make it 2-0 just before with a man advantage.”

Montrell Culbreath (winger): “We expected more, especially given the way the game went. We ended up playing with two men more, had chances but left the game open. I don’t think we’re happy with a point. There was more in it for us.”

Read more about the game in our report: