Real reaction: 'That sums up the character of this team'

Real reaction: 'That sums up the character of this team'

What an incredible Champions League night at the Allianz Arena! In the second leg of the quarter-finals, FC Bayern defeated Real Madrid 4-3 on Wednesday night and deservedly advanced to the final four with a 6-4 win on aggregate. The Munich men now face Paris Saint-Germain (28 April in Paris, 6 May in Munich). “There was certainly a lot of drama,” summarised Joshua Kimmich at full time. “We didn’t start the way we’d hoped, but at half-time we knew: the longer the game went on, the greater the advantage for us.” Board member for sport Max Eberl said: “That sums up the character of this team pretty well. We can play football but most of all we can fight and stay firm. It just feels brilliant. This team and this club are totally alive, they’re standing together. This energy doesn’t just come from the pitch but also from outside. You feel it – and it makes us strong.” fcbayern.comrounds up all the post-match reaction.

Reaction to the match against Real Madrid

Max Eberl, board member for sport: “We’re very, very happy. It was a high enough hurdle at the Bernabéu. Today we made life a bit difficult for ourselves at the start, but the match showed what we’re about: we keep coming back. We equalised, fell behind again, pulled it back again at 2-2 – and won in the end. That sums up the character of this team pretty well. We can play football but most of all we can fight and stay firm. It just feels brilliant. This team and this club are totally alive, they’re standing together. This energy doesn’t just come from the pitch but also from outside. You feel it – and it makes us strong.”

Vincent Kompany: “There were a lot of emotions in this match. We had a lot of possession and the feeling that we could score another goal. But they’re incredibly fast and dangerous – you can never completely relax against Real Madrid. I thought the boys were mentally very strong tonight. I’m proud that we came back twice. The fans helped us, and you always had the feeling the team would come back. You get these moments because you’ve continually earned them over the season. The important thing for me is: the boys deserved to play without fear tonight. You can’t only just say that, you have to show it too. And they did that. It’s often details that decide whether we win or lose. What’s crucial for me is that we’re not standing there after the game and asking ourselves: What was that about? But rather, we left everything out there.”

Manuel Neuer: “I believe we first need to process what happened tonight. That was a proper Champions League night, the kind you don't often experience. For the spectators – and also for us – it was certainly special. I actually wanted to play the ball out wide but didn’t strike it well at all. It was just a bad pass from me. He then takes it first-time with his strong left foot, which we also saw later with the free kick. There’s a huge amount of power behind it. Nevertheless, we stuck to our game, we particularly wanted to remain assured around the penalty box and wait for our chances. They came late but we took them. We deserved to win in the end. The save from Mbappé was important. It was a good cross, he took it on the volley – and then it’s a typical kind of ball that I somehow claw away. It’ll be another even contest against PSG. Our recent games have always been close. We’re looking forward to it – away in Paris and then back at home. The atmosphere today was excellent, we want to experience that again. A bit of drama? I think that’s just part of it.”

Joshua Kimmich: “There was certainly a lot of drama. We didn’t start the way we’d hoped, but at half-time we knew: the longer the game went on, the greater the advantage for us. I think it was worth watching until the end. We knew before the match that both teams can hurt each other – we with pressing and possession, Real with counters. The start wasn’t ideal, then they score a stunning free-kick goal, then another counter. The first half was action-packed. The second was a bit calmer, with fewer chances and less spectacle – although the last five minutes made up for that. I don’t think we were at our best tonight, we made a lot of mistakes, but in the end we won – and we’ll obviously take that. Paris are in good form. The meetings with them have always been very high-level. I’m looking forward to both matches.”

Harry Kane: “It was a hard match. We knew it’d be difficult against Real Madrid in the Champions League. They clearly have a special connection and you always have to play at the highest level to beat them and knock them out of the competition. The first half was a bit chaotic – we obviously had the worst possible start – but we battled back into the game well. But their players on the transitions can really hurt you, and that's what punished us. In the second half, we said to be a little bit more patient. We knew as the game went on, we would get a bit stronger, and we were able to take our chances towards the end."

Michael Olise: “It was a good, back-and-forth match. We knew they would try to come back. At first it was a bit like 'goal, goal, goal'. When it eventually calmed down, we played a bit better in the second half and took our chances. We showed good resilience to keep coming back. In the end, we’re happy with the result. I tried it five or six times before and I was getting closer each time. It was nice to score the goal."

Aleksandar Pavlović: “The stress level was extremely high today. But if every game ends like today’s, we’ll gladly take that. The key was getting our defensive cover spot-on in the second half. We had better coordination, more control – and offensively, we played as well as usual. That’s why we deserved to win. Falling behind after just 35 seconds isn’t exactly a pleasant moment, of course, but it’s precisely in situations like that that you grow together as a team. We reacted well right away, kept going, and didn’t let ourselves get rattled – that’s how a top team plays. Scoring my first Champions League goal against Real Madrid of all teams, it doesn’t really get much better than that. I was thrilled to be able to score the equaliser. PSG in the semi-finals will obviously be another really tough opponent. Everyone knows what kind of team they are –super active, perhaps one of the most active teams right now along with us. We’re looking forward to it and will prepare well.”

Reaction from Real Madrid

Álvaro Arbeloa (coach): “It hurts because of the effort my team gave. The manner of the defeat hurts a lot, we’re out of the competition. We knew that Bayern wanted to rely on their defence but we were very aggressive. I would set up the same way again. Everyone gave their all and showed character against a strong side like Bayern. We had chances but we were unlucky not to take them. We have to congratulate FC Bayern. My players gave it everything.”

The match report:

Bayern win thriller to reach semis