After 41 games without a loss in the opening round of the Champions League, FC Bayern were defeated on Wednesday by Aston Villa on Matchday 2 of Europe’s elite competition. FCB lost 1-0 in what was an intense and hard-fought away match in Birmingham. “Congratulations to Aston Villa. We still have a lot of games and we will also learn from this one,” said coach Vincent Kompany. “We didn’t fully implement our game 100 per cent, made a few too many mistakes and weren’t quite so sharp to get on the second balls as we have been in previous weeks,” analysed Joshua Kimmich. fcbayern.com has all the post-match reaction.
Reaction to the game at Aston Villa
Max Eberl (board member for sport): “In the first half, we had a lot of control for about 15 or 20 minutes without being able to push them back much. Out of possession, we weren’t 100% at it today. The game was on a knife’s edge from the off. In the second half we did better, but without creating any huge goalscoring opportunities. We were more active. The goal we conceded was hardly a big chance. After going behind, we showed a reaction and had another two opportunities through Serge and Harry. You mustn’t lose these games. We have to learn from this, that we can’t win at this level by giving any less than 100 per cent. We didn’t manage to capitalise on what few chances we had. We knew the stakes were high here.”
Vincent Kompany: “I always want to win. The Villa players are happy today, we’re not. We started well, the first quarter of an hour was good. After that we lost our tempo a bit. There was a feeling that it could become dangerous out of nowhere. In the second half it was a lot better, with more control and more running in behind. We had three or four big chances that we didn’t convert and then all of a sudden, we concede a goal. Congratulations to Aston Villa. We still have a lot of games, and we will also learn from this one.”
Manuel Neuer: “Out of 10 games, it’d probably be six wins, perhaps three draws and one loss, if you look at the game like that. We didn’t play a bad game, although not our best, but that can happen in football. Aston Villa did well, bided their time, especially in the first press, and tried to force us down one side. We struggled a bit against this aggressive defence. Nevertheless, we had our chances but we couldn’t put them in the back of the net.”
Joshua Kimmich: “We didn’t fully implement our game 100 per cent, made a few too many mistakes and weren’t quite so sharp to get on the second balls as we have been in previous weeks. Going forward we had our chances, even if not everything was perfect. Even if there weren’t that many, the ones we had were real chances. It’s always difficult to create chances against an opponent that defends so deep. In the first we had a good chance from Serge, and another chance at the end from Harry. There were definitely chances throughout that could have led to goals.”
Harry Kane: “We knew that it would be difficult today. For long stretches of the match, we played our game. It was one of those evenings when the final ball doesn’t come, or the shot doesn’t go in the net. Villas Keeper had a strong evening. Unfortunately, in the second half, we couldn’t defend the counterattack. But we also saw positives, that we have to take away with us and continue to work on. We’ve got a lot of games coming and we need every individual. Of course we are disappointed, and we have to learn from our mistakes today. It’s still early in the season.”
Reaction from the Aston Villa camp
Unai Emery (head coach): “I’m very happy, very proud. To play at this level is what we want to achieve – and continue to play in these matches against teams like Bayern Munich. Of course, we want to enjoy the Champions League the way we do and play the way we do. And we really concentrated on the game today. They were at us for 90 minutes. We made some changes in defence. We tried to keep the ball, but they pressed us. It wasn’t easy. We didn’t have many [chances], but we fought, and we won.”
Read more about the match in our report:
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