Thomas Tuchel, the coach of Bayern Munich, expressed his deep disappointment after his team's 2-2 draw against Real Madrid at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday evening in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinals. Tuchel stated in comments after the match, as reported by "Sky Germany": "We started very well in the first 10 or 15 minutes; we should have taken the lead, but afterwards we didn’t stick to the plan and suffered from slowness, which made us feel insecure, and I don't know the reason for that."
He added: "After that, we conceded a goal, and things didn’t get any easier. We struggled with chaos in the first half and struggled to speed up the play and reach the penalty area." Tuchel continued: "Things were only good for the first 15 minutes, then we improved in the second half, adjusted some positions, took the lead (2-1), and created additional chances that we should have turned into a third goal."
He noted: "Then Real did what they do with everyone, they managed to score two goals from two chances, and that’s why it feels strange. The goal now is clear: to achieve victory in Madrid and head to Wembley." Tuchel added: "There are four quarters, we lost the first and won the second; the first was not good, while the second was good. When you play four quarters against Real Madrid, you might struggle for half an hour; we know what will happen, and it’s still 50-50."
Tuchel blamed his defender Kim Min-jae for Real's first goal: "He shouldn’t have advanced like that on a counterattack. He might do that when we have the ball, but in that situation, he left the attacker free, which is unacceptable. If he had pushed forward and covered someone else’s position, it would have been fine; there was also no pressure on the ball."
Regarding Min-jae causing Real's penalty, he explained: "He positioned himself well the whole time, but when Rodrigo got the ball, he made a mistake and left him space to penetrate deep. When you make a positional error, you have to at least stay on your feet. He didn’t show intelligence, and the striker took advantage of that."
