MY ACCOUNT
Julian Nagelsmann demanded Bayern Munich improve on last season’s quarter-final exit from the Champions League after they concluded their group-stage campaign by beating Inter 2-0.
Bayern finished Group C with a 100 per cent winning record after goals from Benjamin Pavard and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting downed the Nerazzurri at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.
The Bundesliga champions are the first team to win all six group games in two consecutive Champions League campaigns, as well as the first to do so on three occasions (also 2019-20).
Nagelsmann’s side suffered a surprise elimination against Villarreal in the last eight back in April, and the Bayern boss says their efforts this term will count for little if they fall short again.
“We’ve had a very good group stage but that won’t mean anything if we don’t do well in the knockout phase,” Nagelsmann told UEFA.com.
“We have to go further than last year. With the current spirit in the team, I’m confident.
“It was a very good and mature performance. The players who hadn’t played much before today did very well.
“In the end, we had a very young team on the pitch. It’s a good feeling, as a coach, to know you can make changes without losing quality.”
The highlight of Bayern’s victory was a brilliant long-range strike from Choupo-Moting, who continued his strong run of form by picking out the top-left corner with 18 minutes to play.
He has now scored in each of his past five Champions League starts, and is just the third Cameroonian to score 10 goals in the competition after Samuel Eto’o (30) and Vincent Aboubakar (14).
Speaking to UEFA.com, Choupo-Moting expressed his delight at helping Bayern maintain their perfect European record for the season, saying: “It was definitely a beautiful goal.
“It was an important one for us. I feel very good personally and with the team, we have been doing well in recent weeks.
“We knew we had a good team and that this would be a difficult group stage. But at the end of the day, we treat every game seriously to show that we are Bayern Munich. Now we will prepare for the knockout stage.”
