Gouweleeuw: “Our compactness made it difficult for them”
Reaction from the 3-0 defeat in Munich
First Team
22.11.2024, 23:57
Despite a battling performance and strong defensive effort, FC Augsburg suffered a 3-0 defeat away to league leaders FC Bayern on Matchday 11. Here’s all the reaction from the match.
Elvis Rexhbecaj: “Our defensive performance was a positive today. We didn’t leave a lot of space and when we did, Bayern didn’t create any clearcut chances. How we played in possession was what let us down today. If you want to get something here, you have to make things happen on the ball. We found that tough today, because Bayern’s pressing was unbelievable. At the end of the day, we’ve gone home empty-handed.”
Jeffrey Gouweleeuw: “We defended well, apart from the two penalties. They did have a lot of shots on goal, but they didn’t really cause any danger in the first half. Our compactness made it difficult for them. It was really disappointing to be 2-0 down from two penalties. The positive thing is that we can defend with discipline, even against Bayern. Although it’ll be a completely different game next week, we still need to improve on the ball.”
Mads Pedersen: “We held out for a long time, and it’s frustrating that we didn’t get our reward for all that hard defensive work. It was disappointing that Bayern took the lead from a penalty for handball against me, but sadly it hit my hand. I couldn’t get it out of the way. We have to keep working over the coming games and improve going forward so we can start picking up points again.”
Jess Thorup (FC Augsburg head coach): “Firstly, I’d like to congratulate the opposition on their victory. Before the game, we spoke about how we could beat who I believe have been the best team in the league so far. We’ve improved a lot defensively over the last few weeks. We did really well and left very little space in the first half. We would have hoped to create more chances ourselves, but the opponents pressed well and made it difficult for us. At the end of the day, we conceded two penalties and deserved to lose. There was an opportunity to get a draw today, but we didn’t take advantage of our counterattacking situations. That’s why Bayern deserved to win.”
Vincent Kompany (FC Bayern München head coach): “This wasn’t the first time that I’ve come up against my opposite number Jess Thorup. I knew that there was an assumption that we were the favourites for this match and that it would be an easy game, but if you’d watched Augsburg and how they’ve played over the last few weeks, how it went in the first half would have come as no surprise. Therefore, I have to compliment my team for how they kept their calm. I was a defender and so I can appreciate when a team defends well, and that was the case today. There was a lot of action around the opponents’ penalty area. We know that we can create danger in those areas. Overall, I’m very pleased with this result against a difficult opponent.”
