"Too little to earn a win"

It just wasn’t to be! During the home game against FC Bayern Munich, VfL coach Martin Schmidt’s men battled determinedly and even took the lead, but in the end, the Wolves were left licking the wounds left by a 1-2 defeat. Over the bulk of the ninety minutes, the Green-Whites defended well and looked to hit their opponents at pace when in possession, but ultimately failed to make effective use of the opportunities which arose upon switching the play.

Martin Schmidt: We had high hopes today and defended well over long periods. In the first-half we allowed almost nothing through – which is a positive fact! We lost the game in the offensive today, because we never really caused a threat and gave away the ball far too easily. That’s a real shame, because we had a set plan for where the ball should go. In the second-half, we switched the play well on two or three occasions, but the final pass continually let us down and we failed to breach their defensive line. Ultimately, we could not withstand the pressure and our energy levels began to drain. That’s how the game eventually got away from us – it was too little to earn a win.

Jupp Heynckes: Having scored the early goal, VfL could set up a defensive stall. We struggled in the first-half, because we simply didn’t combine well out from our own defence. We had the bulk of the possession, but never found the depth in our game. It was clear to me that we wouldn’t score a goal that way. During the course of the second period, we then played more fluently and faster. The introduction of Thomas Müller changed the game, because he is very mobile, gets into the spaces and opens up room for his team mates. We then scored the all-important 1-1. The fact that we then managed to completely turn the game in the closing phase, could certainly be considered somewhat fortunate. It’s a bitter blow for VfL, because they battled so hard.