Sporting post-match reaction - Serge Gnabry: 'We're extremely pleased'

FC Bayern’s last Champions League match of the year turned into an emotional evening. The Munich men put in a strong and brave performance against Sporting Lisbon at the Allianz Arena, coming back from 1-0 down to win 3-1. Alphoso Davies also made his comeback from the cruciate ligament tear he suffered in March. “We’re very happy about the win,” said Serge Gnabry, who scored the equaliser. “It was a really tough match. Sporting played good football and didn’t make it easy for us. We’re all very pleased for Alphonso Davies.” Head coach Vincent Kompany said in his assessment: “After going behind we stayed calm. We got a lot of chances through our pressing, and in the end the second half was very solid.” fcbayern.com has gathered the rest of the post-match reaction for you.

Reaction to the match against Sporting

Jan-Christian Dreesen, CEO: “We have 15 points from six matches and can be very pleased at this point in time. We’ve not sealed automatic qualification for the round of 16 yet but it’s looking good. Sporting’s goal gave the team a jolt. It was a little early Christmas present for Alphonso Davies today, we’re obviously delighted.”

Max Eberl, board member for sport: “We certainly dominated the first half. The first 10 minutes after the break were more difficult. The composure impressed me, though – we didn’t become hectic. Then we score the equaliser from a set piece and decide the game through a second set piece and the wonderful goal from Lennart Karl. It was the tough match we expected, Sporting are a good side. We’re delighted that we won, it was a very big step. It’s nice that Alphonso Davies was able to play his first minutes. A rehab like that over eight months is extremely arduous, also for the mind, so it was a nice moment to get the first minutes and then be fully back in January.”

Vincent Kompany: “Sporting were difficult opponents, they’re not in the top eight of the Champions League by accident. The first 10 minutes of the second half were not good but we didn’t lose our nerve. After going behind we stayed calm. We got a lot of chances through our pressing, and in the end the second half was very solid. It wasn’t easy, though. Up to now we’ve done our job well and want to see that through to the end. It was nice to see Alphonso Davies back on the pitch again after such a long, severe injury. I didn’t want him to have the pressure of getting us back into the game today, but with the way the match turned out it worked, and I felt that he could help us. We’re obviously glad he’s back.”

Serge Gnabry: “We’re very happy about the win. It was a really tough match. Sporting played good football and didn’t make it easy for us. We’re all very pleased for Alphonso Davies. It’s been a long road for him. We’ve seen over the years how important Phonzy is for us, so we’re extremely pleased that he’s back – and hopefully back at full steam soon.”

Joshua Kimmich: “The first half was good, we had three or four chances. We controlled them. The first 10, 15 minutes of the second half weren’t as good. Towards the end we regained control and the reaction to going behind was very good.”

Lennart Karl: “We had to be patient in the first half against a very low Sporting block. That meant a lot of circulating the ball, passing back and forth, staying patient and eventually finding the gaps – down the wings, with overlapping full-backs or through the pockets in the middle. Then you can press forward and eventually it’ll work out. Everything just worked out today.”

Reaction from Sporting

Rui Borges (coach): “I’m proud of the character we showed. We showed great maturity today. Technically and tactically we were fantastic. We defended deeper than normal but had some good moments with the ball. We lost because we switched off at the set-piece situations. Bayern are an athletically strong team.”

Morten Hjulmand (captain): “For the first 65 minutes, up until the equaliser, we were effective. We had our plan and we executed it perfectly. Then you concede a goal here in this stadium and you know the fans are going to push, the team are going to push. And we didn’t really manage to escape from the chaos they wanted to create, and then we conceded again. In the end it was a deserved win for the home team. We know they’re very dominant here. They win almost every match, they’re extremely strong.”

The match report: