Real reaction - Manuel Neuer: 'Anything is possible with this team'

An epic win for FC Bayern at the Bernabéu! In the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Real Madrid, the Munich men triumphed 2-1 thanks to a strong performance. “We’re glad about the win here first of all, but it’s still going to be a hard task in Munich,” said captain Manuel Neuer, who was named ‘Player of the Match’ after some brilliant saves, with a view to the return leg at the Allianz Arena next Wednesday, 15 April. Coach Vincent Kompany was proud of his team and optimistic for the second match: “I want our boys to know that they’ve won at the Bernabéu. That’s worth something, we have to take that with us. It shows we can achieve a lot.” fcbayern.com rounds up the rest of the post-match reaction for you.

Reaction to the match at Real Madrid

Max Eberl, board member for sport: “We’ve won away at the Bernabéu, not that many teams do that. We demonstrated what we’ve worked on throughout the season – we were brave, active and defended on the front foot. It’s clear that you’re going to concede a few chances against such a world-class team. When you view the whole game, though, we deserved to win. We kept playing bravely and asserting ourselves. We have to be just as alert and brave in possession in the second leg. Then we’ll have our fans behind us and get the job done.”

Vincent Kompany: “Everyone’s still very calm in the dressing room, we still need to win again to progress. But I want our boys to know that they’ve won at the Bernabéu. That’s worth something, we have to take that with us. It shows we can achieve a lot. We have to take the belief into the next game. You always had the feeling the match was in the balance and could swing one way or the other. I felt that we had more and better chances. These Real players are incredible, though – their pace in the one-v-ones. We needed some strong spells of defending and Manu (Neuer) also made some unbelievable saves. But when I see the chances we had, that has to give us confidence that we can score more goals. That’s what we need to try at home. We want to make the difference with our fans at the Allianz Arena. I hope that if we get those chances again, we’ll score the goals. Two goals are good, though, we’ll take that.”

Manuel Neuer: “It’s a shame that it wasn’t 2-0. We know how dangerous Real Madrid are. They also had some good chances and let some go, so we’re glad about the win here first of all. It’s still going to be a hard task in Munich. They have some of the best players in the world, who have a lot of pace, are good at dribbling and strong finishers – that’s very difficult to defend. If we stick close to each other, it’s easier but when they have space one-v-one, it’s very hard. It’s just fun to play with this team and coaching staff. Anything is possible.”

Jonathan Tah: “It’s special to win here, it’s not an easy thing to do. However, we know there’s still a second leg, although it’s in front of our fans. We’ve prepared everything to deliver a good performance in Munich and will give everything to go through. We’re very happy also with the way we performed here, with a lot of courage and conviction. We could’ve even scored another goal or two. We’ve put ourselves in a good position for the return leg. At the end of the day it’s about imposing our game, which we managed very well in spells tonight. You also have to respect the opponents – they can get into dangerous situations – but we also did well there because we defended as a unit.”

Tah on Neuer: “Are you surprised? We’re grateful to him every match. He has a special aura, also with the saves he repeatedly makes. You shouldn’t take it for granted, but it’s normal for him.”

Serge Gnabry: “We’ll certainly take the win. We came here to win. We had further chances that we should’ve converted, then perhaps we could’ve killed them off. But they had chances too, we have to admit. We’ll take the win and go into the second leg with confidence. We need to go into it with complete conviction at home. We deserved the victory today. In the second leg we have to try to summon a tick more.”

Reaction from Real

Álvaro Arbeloa (coach): “Unfortunately we wasted a few chances, but we’re still in it. It won’t be easy but we can win there. Bayern are a great team with very good players. Manuel Neuer had a fantastic game. We came up against a very good side, the most consistent in Europe. It will be far from easy there.”

The match report: