Vincent Kompany: ‘A sign of great character’

Despite an impressive fighting performance and deafening crowd support in the Allianz Arena, FC Bayern was forced to concede a 1:0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16 of the DFB Cup. Following a red card for Manuel Neuer, Bayern were down to ten men for 70 minutes. “You really shouldn’t take for granted how the lads performed today. Their efforts were impressive for most of the game and that shows great character,” commented head coach Vincent Kompany. “Even it’s very painful, we can draw a great deal from this defeat,” Board Member for Sport Max Eberl summarized. fcbayern.com has more of the post-match reaction

Herbert Hainer (president): “The team played excellently, and we could’ve scored a goal before half-time. We had a lot of attacking options and we played very flexibly. It was a matter of milliseconds for Manu (Neuer), so you can’t blame him – these things happen. I’ve spoken to Vincent, he’s very calm, analysing and looking ahead. He’ll pick the team up and we’re assuming that we will then win on Saturday.”

Max Eberl (board member for sport): “We were extremely invested in this game. The reaction the team showed following the sending-off was outstanding. I was very impressed with the way we played against the reigning champions and cup winners who took everyone apart last season.  Even it’s very painful, we can draw a great deal  from this defeat.”

Christoph Freund (sporting director): “We showed a good performance. It was an intense game and a great fight. We should have scored a goal even with ten men and had good moments in transition. This is very disappointing because we were determined to make it to Berlin. Since he was the last man, the red card was justifiable. I am very confident we will continue to improve. Obviously, that doesn’t help much today.”

Vincent Kompany: “It’s always bitter when an early red card influences a game to such an extent. But I have to say: I’ve been down to ten men as a player many times and you really shouldn’t take for granted how the lads performed today. Their efforts were impressive for most of the game and that shows great character. We had chances to score goals, but unfortunately we didn’t use them. Then they deliver one cross and it’s a goal. That was obviously a shame. To play with ten men is always a special challenge. In those situations, the fans really can become the 12th man and all of us felt that today: the players on the pitch, the bench, and the substitutes. The crowd support visibly helped the team. There was life in our performance today. The boys gave it everything they had. Nevertheless, you can’t sugarcoat defeats, particularly not when they mean you’re out of the cup.“

Manuel Neuer: “The red card decided the game. It’s painful for us and I’m sorry. I apologized to the team. In that situation, I was hoping it might be offside. I can’t change it anymore. It was a mistake and I have to accept that. I don’t have a choice. Obviously, it wasn’t easy to keep playing afterwards but we did a very good job as a team. We invested a great deal and tried everything. You really can’t blame us as a team.”

Joshua Kimmich: “The red card wasn’t the turning point and it’s no excuse. Manu saved us so many times. We couldn’t have played much better or been more dominant with 11 men. We didn’t use our chances, particularly during set-pieces. And one time, we didn’t defend our box properly. There’s nothing much to criticize about our performance, apart from not using our chances. But that doesn’t help us now. We can never afford to slow down. We had difficult moments against PSG and against Dortmund when that happened. However, today was one of our best performances so far, particularly considering the opposition. I hope this will give us a boost. Going out of the cup is aggravating because we all play football to win. We’re on the right way forward even if this cup exit hurts.“

Aleksandar Pavlovic: “It was a lot of fun when I came on. But it’s a very disappointing evening as we really wanted to advance. We did very well with ten men and showed character.”

Daniel Peretz: “It was a great feeling to play for this great club and to do so in front of these fantastic fans. I really enjoyed it. We gave everything and the fans gave us amazing support. We were dominant, so it’s a shame that it wasn’t enough. I tried to give the best performance I could. I always give it my all to keep improving.”

Xabi Alonso (head coach): “I’m very proud that we made it to the next round here in the Allianz Arena. Even against ten men it’s very difficult to win here, but we achieved it and that makes me happy. As expected, it was a heated battle. Now, we’re super-happy about the quarter-final.”

Jonathan Tah (defender): “We all knew what to expect in the Allianz Arena. It’s not easy to prevail here. It wasn’t our best performance in possession. Even with one man up, we didn’t play well all the time. We weren’t efficient enough. Overall, however, we managed to play according to plan, particularly in the first half. We wanted to press them hard and get behind their back line.”

Nathan Tella (forward): “It was very good. I am happy and glad we won. We wanted to be focussed today and we played well. In the last game here in Munich, I had a late chance to score. I didn’t score then but today it worked.”

Read about the most important moments in our match report:

10-man Bayern bow out of cup against Leverkusen