MY ACCOUNT
Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann admits his side deserved to lose their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Villarreal on Wednesday.
Arnaut Danjuma scored the only goal of the game in the eighth minute, and only wasteful finishing prevented the hosts from taking a greater lead to Germany for next week’s second leg.
The result marked the first time Bayern have failed to score in a Champions League game since February 2019 (0-0 v Liverpool), ending a run of 30 consecutive games in which they had scored at least once.
While Nagelsmann accepted Villarreal were deserving winners, he still believes his side have what it takes to turn it around in the reverse fixture.
“We deserved to lose. We weren’t good today. In the first half, we lacked power in defence and had too few chances,” he told DAZN.
“The second half was a completely wild game. We gave up control because we were desperate to score.
“I think they could have scored a few more goals against us, but it was 1-0. We have not played a good game today in all aspects.
“But it’s only 1-0 and we have to show another side of us in the second leg; we know how to do it and I think we will.”
Asked where it went wrong for his side tactically, Nagelsmann pointed to a lack of intensity down the flanks.
“It’s a typical match against a Spanish team, who have good players and make few mistakes,” he added. “They have quality with the ball.
“On the wings we were not intense and we lacked penetration; we did not do the diagonals well either. Nothing worked for us and we had few chances. We deserved to lose.”
Bayern have failed to progress from each of their last five ties in the Champions League knockout stages when they have lost the first leg, with four of those five eliminations coming against Spanish teams (Barcelona in 2014-15, Atletico Madrid in 2015-16 and Real Madrid in 2016-17 and 2017-18).
Thomas Muller, who failed to have a single shot in his 62 minutes on the pitch, knows Bayern have to improve dramatically if they are to end that run and book a spot in the last four.
“We failed to deliver the match we wanted,” he said. “Offensively, we didn’t have the energy; we didn’t create many chances and we lacked the explosiveness.
“We accept this 1-0. If it had gone wrong, the score could have been higher.
“We have seen that Villarreal is not an opponent we can walk against, contrary to what some media said. We have to prepare for the second leg and take our revenge.”
