Bayern Munich: Hasan Salihamidzic bemoans individual errors against Man City
The last seven days have been a nightmare for Bayern Munich in cup competitions. After getting knocked out of DFB Pokal last week, Bayern is now staring at a quarter-final exit from the Champions League. The Bavarian club suffered a 3-0 defeat away at Manchester City on Tuesday in the first leg of the quarter-final.
Bayern went toe to toe with Pep Guardiola’s men in the first half, but a screamer from Rodri was the difference between the two sides. The Spaniard deposited the ball in the top corner with his left foot from outside the box. Jamal Musiala had a good attempt blocked by Ruben Dias in the same half.
The Bavarian club looked eager to bounce back in the second half. Tuchel’s men took the game to Man City in the first 20 minutes of the second half. Leroy Sane forced Ederson to make three good saves during this period. The home side also looked threatening in the final third, but Bayern looked more likely to score the next goal in the game until a lapse in concentration for Dayot Upamecano at the back led to Man City’s second goal.
Bayern was not able to recover from this shock and ended up conceding another goal, which strengthened Man City’s grip on the tie. While talking to club’s media after the game, Bayern’s sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic bemoaned the individual mistakes that cost the team a good result in Manchester.
"“We played well until the 70th minute, held our own and created some good opportunities. Spectacular goals like Rodri’s can happen, but we stuck at it, started the second half well and had chances. It shouldn’t have, but individual mistakes happen. They were dominant for the next 20 minutes. We played well out from the back again, but didn’t get a goal.”"
Upamecano has been on the receiving end of criticism since he lost the ball for Man City’s second goal. However, Thomas Tuchel and Salihamidzic have backed the French defender to bounce back from this setback. Joshua Kimmich also had words of support for the French international.
Bayern faces an uphill task to get back in this tie when they host Manchester City next Wednesday. They will need a perfect performance to erase the deficit and keep Man City’s dangerous forward quiet in Munich to have a chance of going into the next round.
Despite the defeat, Thomas Tuchel was also proud of his team’s efforts to take the game to Manchester City on Tuesday. The German coach believes that not many teams can come to Etihad and dominate Man City as they did for extended periods on Tuesday. Even though it is going to be difficult to erase the deficit, Tuchel is positive about the second leg in Munich.
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Bayern players will look to get this defeat out of the system by delivering a convincing performance against Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Saturday. The Bavarian club needs to maintain the winning run in the league to remain two points clear at the top of the points table.