Vincent Kompany: “That shows great character”

Despite an impressive fighting performance and loud support from the fans in the Allianz Arena at home, FC Bayern narrowly lost 1-0 to Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the round of 16 of the DFB Cup on Tuesday evening. After a red card against Manuel Neuer, the Munich team were outnumbered for more than 70 minutes. “What the boys did today really isn’t something to be taken for granted. Their effort was impressive over long periods and shows great character,” said head coach Vincent Kompany after the game. “Even if it hurts a lot, it can be a defeat from which you can gain a lot,” summed up sports director Max Eberl. fcbayern.com collected the votes for the game.

Herbert Hainer (President): “The team played excellently and we could have scored a goal in the first half. We have a lot of options offensively and played very flexibly. That can happen, it was a millisecond decision for Manu, you can’t blame him for that. I spoke to Vincent, he is very composed, he analyzes and looks forward. He will now build up the team and then we will assume that we will win on Saturday.”

Max Eberl (sports director): “We invested a lot in this game. The team’s reaction to the sending off was outstanding. The character, the quality, with ten men against the reigning champions and cup winners, who played everything to the wall last season, that really impressed me. Even if it hurts a lot, it can be a defeat from which you can gain a lot.”

Christoph Freund (sports director): “We showed a good performance, it was an intense game and a big fight. We should have scored a goal even with ten men and had good transition situations. It’s very disappointing because we really wanted to go to Berlin. The red card can be given as the last man. We will improve even further, I’m really positive about that. But that doesn’t help today.”

Vincent Kompany: “It is of course always bitter when a red card affects everything so early in the game. But I have to say: I’ve often played with ten players in my career, and what the boys achieved today really isn’t something to be taken for granted. Their effort was impressive over long stretches and shows great character. We had our chances to score goals, but unfortunately we didn’t take them. Then comes a cross, a goal conceded – that was of course a shame. Playing with one less man is always a special challenge. In moments like this the crowd can become the twelfth man and I think all of us – the players on the pitch, the bench, the substitutes – felt that today. The support of the fans has noticeably helped the team. There was life in this performance and the boys gave it their all. However, you can never sugarcoat a defeat, especially if it means we are eliminated from the cup.”

Manuel Neuer: “The sending off was decisive in the game. We are hurting and I am sorry. I apologized to the team. I was hoping for a bit of offside in that situation. I can’t change it anymore. It was a mistake and I have to accept it, unfortunately I have no other choice. Of course, it wasn’t so easy to continue the game afterwards. But we did very well as a team. We invested and tried everything, and you can’t blame us as a team.”

Joshua Kimmich: “The red card wasn’t the sticking point and isn’t an excuse either. Manu has saved us many times. We couldn’t have been much better or more dominant even with eleven men. We didn’t take our chances, especially from set pieces, and once we didn’t defend the box properly. If you look at the pure performance, we can’t blame ourselves for much other than converting chances, but that can’t buy you anything. We can’t let up, as we always had difficult phases against PSG and Dortmund. But today was one of our best performances so far, especially compared to the opponent. I hope this encourages us. The end is annoying, we all play football to win. But we are on the right track, even if the end hurts.”

Aleksandar Pavlović: “It was a lot of fun when I came in. But it’s a very bitter evening, we really wanted to move forward. We did very well with ten men and showed character.”

Daniel Peretz: “It was a great feeling to play for this great club and in front of these fantastic fans. I enjoyed it. We gave it our all and the fans gave us great support. We played dominantly, it’s a shame it wasn’t enough. I tried to give my best performance. I always do everything I can to improve.”

Xabi Alonso (Trainer, Bayer 04 Leverkusen): “I am very proud that we have reached the next round here at the Allianz Arena. Even against ten players it is very, very difficult here, but we did it and that makes me happy. It was the expected hot fight. Now we are super happy about the quarter-finals.”

Jonathan Tah (central defender, Bayer 04 Leverkusen): “We all knew what to expect in the Allianz Arena. It’s not easy to survive here. It wasn’t our best game with the ball. Even with one more man, we didn’t always do well. We weren’t effective enough. Overall, we implemented our plan, especially in the first half. We wanted to really press and keep getting behind the chain.”

Nathan Tella (midfielder, Bayer 04 Leverkusen): “It was very good. I’m happy. I’m happy that we won. We wanted to be focused today and played well. In the last game here in Munich I had the chance in the final stages but didn’t score, but today it worked.”

The most important scenes to read in the match report:

Bayern are outnumbered against Leverkusen