Reaction to Benfica game – Vincent Kompany: 'We controlled the game'

FC Bayern Munich produced an important win on Wednesday evening in the Champions League at home to Benfica. “It's important for us to win a game this way. Not every finish was dangerous, but we controlled the game,” summarised head coach Vincent Kompany. “It's important to have won the three points. We took a good step forward today and now we're looking ahead,” added goalscorer Jamal Musiala. fcbayern.com has more of the post-match reaction.

Reactions to the Benfica game

Max Eberl (board member for sport): "Those were three important points. We needed them today. It was a complicated game. Benfica didn't want to play football with us. They only wanted to defend and they did that with great structure. However, we kept the pressure on. Once more we didn't give any chances away, and we were rewarded. 1-0 wins are the best ones. We never said we don't learn from mistakes and past games. On the contrary, we observe everything with great scrutiny. You simply can't show this incredible intensity every three days. However, the game control and the dominance we're consistently showing with two central defenders in outstanding form in the past days and weeks, that really is very good."

Vincent Kompany: “It's important for us to win a game this way. In the past, we always scored three, four or five goals, but today we stayed calm. We had 24 shots on goal and the opposition had one. Not every finish was dangerous, but we controlled the game. There are games in which the last pass just isn't as precise as necessary. We know we can decide matches within the first five minutes if we're on good form. That didn't happen today. But in the end, it's the Champions League. It was a good game and a good win. Obviously, I'm really happy to have the quality of Leroy Sané and Michael Olise in the same position - not to forget Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry. You can say Leroy turned this game around today.”

Jamal Musiala: “We had good moments, but the opposition played and defended well. Of course, there are still things we can improve, but it's important to have won the three points. I don't know what's going on with me scoring headers at the moment. The ball dropped nicely for me a few times and I just keep trying to get into good positions I can score easy goals from. We all knew we had to win tonight and we did a good job. We had a tough time settling into the game, but we can't win by four or five goals every time. Sometimes a 1-0 win has to be enough. We took a good step forward today and now we're looking ahead.”

Konrad Laimer: “It's difficult to play against any opponent who can position and defend well. You need to be patient and that's what we were today. We stuck to our game plan and kept knocking on the door. We realise that we didn't play with enough precision during certain periods. Overall, we were probably too tense. But in the end, we won 1-0. Sometimes you need wins like that. We dominated the game for 90 minutes and deserved the victory. We want to keep evolving, and I'm convinced we will see more success as the season progresses.”

João Palhinha: “It was a special game for me as a Portuguese player. We gave away very few chances and controlled the entire game. Today, our work was rewarded. We knew we had to win.”

Dayot Upamecano: “We're happy with our performance. We defended very well. We are a team. Everyone wants to keep a clean sheet together, everyone wants to win together. This is how we have to keep going.”

Reaction from the Benfica camp

Bruno Lage (head coach): “When Bayern play at home they usually have a lot of possession. We knew we would have to defend. Our plan was to try and create something with the ball. We wanted to have more control and could have done better in transition a few times.”

Renato Sanches (midfielder): “I was happy to return to Munich. It was a familiar atmosphere and I enjoyed that. Of course, we had hoped for a different result. We could have done better in attack, and that's something we need to work on as a team in the upcoming weeks. We can learn a lot from this game and we have to show that in the next matches. Then, we'll see a better Benfica.”

Jan-Niklas Beste (winger): “If you're playing with such a tight block against Bayern for such a long time, I think it's only a matter of time before Bayern score a goal. Obviously, the goal was great. It was a great cross to the far post and went back into the centre. It's difficult to defend that. The things we wanted to do in transition didn't work for us today. You're fairly alone up front against three or four players, and that obviously makes it extremely difficult.”

Read about the most important moments in the match report: