MY ACCOUNT
Julian Nagelsmann has promised that Bayern Munich “will not play badly against the same opponent twice” ahead of his side’s Champions League clash with Villarreal.
Bayern welcome Villarreal to the Allianz Arena trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg.
The Bundesliga leaders are looking to avoid being eliminated in the quarter-finals in consecutive seasons. Prior to last term, when they lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight, Bayern had only been eliminated in one of their last nine quarter-final ties in the competition, against Real Madrid in 2016-17.
Villarreal coach Unai Emery said after the first leg that he regretted his side not being able to make the most of further opportunities to extend their advantage.
It was the first time Bayern have failed to score in a Champions League since Liverpool in February 2019, and Nagelsmann insisted the poor display will not be replicated on Tuesday.
“We played a bad game and they played their best game,” Nagelsmann told a news conference.
“This will not happen again, to play badly against the same opponent twice.
“We delivered in the past and it should be like that. We have to, we must, we want to. It is normal when you win so many titles and have such success for so many years that you maybe need this pressure sometimes to get the maximum out.
“Maybe it will be a sparkling game from our side. We must turn up our complete intensity level. We did not take the last steps, the last metres in the first leg. We have to play more uncomfortable football.”
Bayern actually finished the first leg with a higher expected goals (xG) of 1.6 in comparison to Villarreal’s 1.5, though that will have been helped by a higher quantity of attempts (22 to 12).
Nagelsmann added: “We made many mistakes. They made one to keep us alive. They could have scored more goals but we are still alive and we should show it on the pitch.”
Bayern are aiming to progress from a Champions League knockout tie after losing the first leg for the first time since the 2014-15 quarter-finals, while the defeat was their 20th against a Spanish team in European competition, their most against sides from a specific nation.
