“It’s good that we still have everything in our hands,” rejoiced Manuel Neuer, goalkeeper and captain of Bayern Munich, Tuesday evening after the draw (2-2) against Real Madrid at home in the semi-finals. -final first leg of the Champions League.
“We would have liked to have won. Looking at the appearance of the match, we would have deserved to leave the field as winners. We will focus on the return match. The winner of this return match will go to the final,” he underlined in the mixed zone after the match.
In front of 75,000 spectators at the Allianz Arena, the Munich team fell behind (1-0), came back in front in four minutes in the second half (2-1) and finally conceded the draw (2-2) in end of meeting.
“It’s good that we still have everything in our hands and that we can still make the difference to go to Wembley in the final. Quite a few teams would like to exchange with our position,” slipped Manuel Neuer.
“Of course it’s possible. This is one of the trickiest places to win a match. The goal is very clear, we will have to be courageous, full of confidence and clinical in this match,” said Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel.
“I think it feels like it’s 0-0, there’s a game to go to Wembley, it’s a big opportunity. We started the match well, we could have led 1-0. They scored against the run of play, but that’s how they do it. They have fast and talented young players. They can hurt you in a second,” underlined the Englishman Harry Kane, author of his 8th goal this season in the Champions League, the 43rd in all competitions, adding his 35 goals in the Bundesliga.
Before the start of the match, the Munich supporters of the “Südkurve” had deployed a sumptuous tifo dedicated to the “Kaiser” Franz Beckenbauer, three-time winner with Bayern of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup, ancestor of the Champions League, in 1974, 1975 and 1976, died in early January. “The atmosphere was incredible,” said Neuer.