Online Reporter
Bayern Munich showed mental strength and absolute belief to come from behind three times before beating Real Madrid 4-3 to reach the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday, coach Vincent Kompany said.
Kompany, who was booked during the game and will miss their last-four first leg against holders Paris St Germain, said the Bavarians, who are chasing a treble of titles, had to dig deep to overcome record 15-times European champions Real 6-4 on aggregate in a classic tie.
“The boys were mentally strong today to recover from setbacks,” Kompany said.
“The fans helped us as well. We stayed calm and always felt that our moment would come. The boys deserved this win.
“What remains for me is the total togetherness that we showed. That’s what we take from the game. We showed absolute belief and will to fight our way back into the game.”
“During the game our team has a lot of talent and experience to deal with these situations. After 35 seconds in this game to concede a goal, you then have to press the reset button. We stayed focused on our game,” Kompany said.
Hosts Bayern trailed 1-0 after 35 seconds when Arda Guler took advantage of a bad mistake by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, and Real twice more took the lead to go into halftime 3-2 ahead.
Bayern, 2-1 winners of the first leg in Spain, kept their composure, however, and struck twice in the dying stages through Luis Diaz and Michael Olise to snatch victory and advance to the last four.
The six-time European champions can potentially clinch the Bundesliga title this weekend, with a 12-point advantage and five matches remaining, before facing Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup semifinals.
“It was a very emotional game,” said Kompany, in his second season at Bayern. “We had a lot of possession and always had the feeling we could score. But Real Madrid remain Real Madrid. They have very quick players and are always a threat.”
Kompany became the 11th coach to lead Bayern to the European Cup semifinals.
Meanwhile, Harry Kane praised Luis Diaz’s late “moment of magic” which delivered the killer blow as Bayern Munich eliminated Real Madrid to reach the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday.
“I think even in the last 20 minutes of the game I felt like we were the team trying to make something happen,” Kane told reporters.
“They started to tire a little bit, and it just sometimes takes a moment, a moment of magic, an unbelievable finish, or an unbelievable pass.
“In this case it was two great finishes by Lucho (Diaz) and Michael (Olise), to finish the game off for us, and that’s what the Champions League is about.
“Sometimes, you can be the dominant team and lose, so it’s nice to get through and win this one.”
The England captain credited his side’s patience for helping them overcome Madrid.
“The highs and lows throughout the first half especially was pretty unique,” Kane said.
“We stayed in the game, we stayed patient, especially in the second half, we knew as the game would go on we would become stronger.
“Physically this season we’ve been really strong in the last 10-15 minutes, and that’s kind of what happened today. We took our chances when we needed to at the end.”
Kane’s first-half strike made him the first English player in a top-five European league since 1930-31 to score 50 goals in all competitions in a season.
“It’s a reward for a lot of the hard work that we put in, not just me, but the team,” Kane told TNT.
“It wouldn’t be possible without the players around me and for me it’s just about keeping it going.
‘‘We’ve still got six weeks left in a Bayern shirt, we (England) have a World Cup in the summer and I just want to stay physically fit and sharp and just be out there to help the team.” — SuperSport
