Reaction to PSG first leg - Kompany: 'We need our fans and the same passion we had against Madrid'

FC Bayern went down to a narrow defeat in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night after a nine-goal thriller at Parc des Princes. Despite the 5-4 loss, the Bavarians showed impressive character to leave the tie in the balance going into the second leg at the Allianz Arena next Wednesday, 6 May. “In the end it’s only a one-goal margin. We’ll go into the return leg with full confidence, give it everything and then want to be in the final,” stated Jonathan Tah. Vincent Kompany, who’ll be back in the dugout after serving a touchline ban in the first leg, also appeared confident: “The belief is 100 percent there, as is the feeling. We need our fans and their support with the same passion we had against Madrid.” fcbayern.com rounds up the rest of the post-match reaction for you.

Reaction to match at Paris Saint-Germain

Vincent Kompany: “When two teams go into a match like this with this idea, then that’s exactly what can happen. I already had a feeling that a match like that was possible. Obviously, when you concede five goals away from home, the semi-final is normally over. But we scored four and could’ve scored one, two, even three more. We know now: the second leg is at home and we have to win. We do that often there and with the support of our fans, the belief is certainly there. Overall we always had the feeling we could be dangerous. We often got in front of the PSG goal very quickly with a bit of possession. At the same time, though, we were vulnerable to the counter, which we didn’t defend well enough in the second half. Nevertheless, four goals in Paris shows that we can score goals. And we’ll show that again at home. We have a week now to work on the things we need to improve. The belief is 100 percent there, as is the feeling. We need our fans and their support with the same passion we had against Madrid.”

Joshua Kimmich: “I think it was to be expected that it would be end-to-end, but I didn’t expect it to be so open. It feels strange after the match because we lost – by one goal. We were three goals down at one point, came back and had the feeling we actually should’ve equalised. Particularly at the end, Paris looked tired, they had cramps and were playing for time. We certainly felt we had a chance. I honestly thought we were very good at the start, the first 15, 20 minutes. We needed to score the second goal. Then we allow Paris into the game through a mistake in build-up, and after that they got better. It’s very annoying that we conceded from a set piece again – we mustn’t allow that. However, we certainly showed a very good reaction. Okay, they had another counter and hit the bar, but overall you have the feeling there’s more to come.”

Jonathan Tah: “It was a very, very intense match. Despite the defeat, I think we showed in a lot of phases what kind of team we are. We've handled setbacks well because we don't let things like that stop us – we just keep going. You saw that we can score a lot of goals. Of course, we conceded too many tonight, but in the end it’s only a one-goal margin. We’ll go into the return leg with full confidence, give it everything and then want to be in the final.”

Reaction from Paris Saint-Germain

Luis Enrique (coach): “It was unbelievable, I have no words. I think that was the best match I’ve ever experienced as a coach. Both teams wanted to play, both have enormous quality. I think everyone enjoyed watching this match. We’re obviously happy that we won, and we shouldn’t forget: Bayern have only lost three matches this season. That shows how well we did today.”

Ousmane Dembélé (striker): “It was an impressive display by both sides. Two attack-minded teams who want to win – home or away. It was a really good match and we’re obviously happy that we won it. There were several factors, one being that we were determined to win this match because we lost in the league phase. Then it was about maintaining concentration and playing with our heads. In matches like this, the little details are decisive. Maybe we could’ve controlled it better at 5-2, but we know Bayern are a great team and are capable of coming back. We won’t change our philosophy. You also have to be able to suffer in a Champions League semi-final and that’s exactly what we’ll prepare ourselves for in the second leg.”

The match report: