Muller: Bayern have small chance of reaching final after loss to Barca
Thomas Muller believes Bayern Munich have blown its Champions League final hopes and only have a "minuscule" chance of eliminating Barcelona following its 3-0 first-leg defeat.
The absence of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery impacted the effectiveness of Pep Guardiola's attack and three goals - a double from Lionel Messi and a stoppage-time strike from Neymar - in the final 13 minutes saw Bayern defeated in Wednesday's clash at Camp Nou.
Despite the Germany international's devastation at being humiliated at Camp Nou - where Bayern sealed a 7-0 aggregate victory at this stage two seasons ago - Muller refused to single out any teammate for blame and vowed to push for a miracle in the second leg at the Allianz Arena.
"For a long time we defended well against a team with many lively, pacey players," the forward told Sky. "In the first half we were lucky, we needed goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to keep us in the game on two occasions. During the second half we felt quite good. We did not have major chances, but it is not easy to play here. It certainly did not feel like we were going to lose 3-0."
Despite looking at the positives, the scoreline is one Muller could not deny as Bayern faces a daunting task in the second leg.
"But then we put ourselves into that situation," he said. "Now we have to stand together and not look for scapegoats. But we must accept that our chance of reaching the final is miniscule now. It would be sensational if we turned this around. But you can be sure that we will give everything we have until the final whistle at the Allianz Arena."
Bayern take on Barca in the second leg next Tuesday knowing that a goal for the Liga leaders will see Bayern needing to score at least five to progress.
Ahead of that clash, Bayern is back in Bundesliga action at home to Augsburg on Saturday, although Guardiola is likely to field a second-string side in the hopes his team can repeat the comeback heroics it showed against Porto, when it overturned a 3-1 deficit with a 6-1 win in Germany.
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