DPA
Berlin
BayernMunich coach Vincent Kompany said the team won’t make excuses for the “clear” 4-1 defeat at Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday evening.
“We lost, it was a clear loss,” Kompany said.
“After a defeat like this, we should learn from it quickly rather than looking for excuses, so that we can produce a better performance against Bochum on Sunday,” he added.
Barcelona hadn’t defeated Bayern since a 3-0 win in the Champions League semi-finals in 2015, but were ahead already in the first minute as Raphinha scored the first of his three goals of the evening.
Bayern equalized in the 18th minute through Harry Kane and Kompany said “I had the feeling for around 30 minutes that we could win it. But then the game was flipped after the second and third goals.”
The Bavarians left for half-time with a 3-1 deficit that included a goal from their former striker Robert Lewandowski.
“I said beforehand that it feels like a Champions League final against FC Bayern. So to win in this way against an opponent like Bayern is extraordinary. It was important to get our second win in the Champions League this season,” Lewandowski said.
Bayern started the revamped Champions League - which will be concluded with a final in Munich - with a 9-2 thrashing of Dinamo Zagreb, but have since suffered defeats to AstonVilla and Barcelona.
Wednesday’s debacle left them in 23rd in the table, which would secure them only a spot in the play-offs for the knock-out stages.
Kimmich: “We made too many mistakes” Midfielder Joshua Kimmich said that Bayern “got off to a bad start but regained control after 10 minutes and brought it back to 1-1,” but that he felt “we were not tidy enough with the ball.”
“We weren’t tidy enough and we made too many mistakes. So, the result is a very clear and tough-to-take 4-1 defeat. It wasn’t a 4-1 game, but it was a deserved defeat,” he said.
Bitter reunion with Flick Bayern were seeing their former coach Hansi Flick again for the first time since he left the club in 2021.
Flick won the Champions League with Bayern in 2020 in a campaign that included a 8-2 thrashing of Barcelona.
“I’m proud of how we came back after the equalizer, as we had a period in the game when we weren’t so brave. We created some excellent chances.
“Bayern Munich are an outstanding team and play very attractive football. We were a touch better today, a touch more clinical in our finishing,” the coach said.
