Bayern boss unhappy with loss

Bayern boss unhappy with loss

Published Nov. 24, 2010 12:47 p.m. ET

Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal criticised his team after their defeat to Roma in the Champions League.

The Bavarians, whose place in the knockout stages had already been secured with four wins from their first four group matches, led 2-0 at the break, but still ended up losing, much to their Dutch coach's annoyance.

"Once again, we have thrown a game away," he complained. "We did that in Monchengladbach and we did that against Leverkusen too, and now we have done it again.

"It is incredible because we had played so dominantly.

ADVERTISEMENT

"Maybe we lost concentration in the second half, but it is not on that we conceded a goal just four minutes in after we had a corner.

"That is not possible"

Nevertheless, thanks to their head-to-head record with Roma, Bayern were still able to secure top spot in the group last night, which was only a minor consolation to Van Gaal.

"We have finished first so it is not as bad as one thinks," he added at the post-match press conference.

"Yet it is still unbelievable that we threw away a 2-0 lead. We are all disappointed."

They must now put that disappointment behind them and focus on climbing up the Bundesliga, where they need to make up ground on league leaders Borussia Dortmund.

Fifteen points currently separate the two sides with four matches to go until the midway stage of the season and now the group victory in the Champions League has been secured, they must concentrate on the league, according to their director of sport Christian Nerlinger.

"The Champions League and the Bundesliga are two completely different things," he said.

"We have reached our primary goal, which was the group victory, but we are under pressure in the league and the most important thing now is getting three points against Frankfurt on Saturday."

share