The message is clear: it’s not over yet. Manuel Neuer still believes in his side’s chances of reaching the Champions League semi-final, after the 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in the first leg of the quarter-final. DFB.de spoke with the 31-year-old world champion on his numerous saves, the next leg on Tuesday (20:45 CEST), and the incident in Dortmund.
Question: Mr. Neuer, how tough a pill to swallow is that 2-1 loss to Real Madrid?
Manuel Neuer: It’s definitely a tough result to take. We had hoped to be in a better situation than this for the next leg, and it didn’t look like we would lose 2-1 given the way we played in the first-half.
Question: What would you say went wrong?
Neuer: If we were a bit calmer, confident, and more intelligent in the first-half, then we could have been up 2-0 or 3-0 after the first 45 minutes. Instead, we conceded an equaliser in the 47th minute which made it 1-1. The second yellow leading to a sending off (for Javi Martinez) was obviously a turning point in the second-half. We have to consider ourselves lucky not to have conceded more goals.
Question: Was the fact that you were down a man the sole reason that your side couldn’t get a foothold on the game in the second-half?
Neuer: It was definitely harder for us after that. I think that it was clear that we weren’t going to win the game 3-2, or even level the score at 2-2. It was certainly easier for Real Madrid, and you can’t expect us to turn the game around with 10 men.
Question: How worried are you about the defence in front of you after Javi’s suspension on top of the fact that Mats Hummels may still not be fit to play?
The message is clear: it’s not over yet. Manuel Neuer still believes in his side’s chances of reaching the Champions League semi-final, after the 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in the first leg of the quarter-final. DFB.de spoke with the 31-year-old world champion on his numerous saves, the next leg on Tuesday (20:45 CEST), and the incident in Dortmund.
Question: Mr. Neuer, how tough a pill to swallow is that 2-1 loss to Real Madrid?
Manuel Neuer: It’s definitely a tough result to take. We had hoped to be in a better situation than this for the next leg, and it didn’t look like we would lose 2-1 given the way we played in the first-half.
Question: What would you say went wrong?
Neuer: If we were a bit calmer, confident, and more intelligent in the first-half, then we could have been up 2-0 or 3-0 after the first 45 minutes. Instead, we conceded an equaliser in the 47th minute which made it 1-1. The second yellow leading to a sending off (for Javi Martinez) was obviously a turning point in the second-half. We have to consider ourselves lucky not to have conceded more goals.
Question: Was the fact that you were down a man the sole reason that your side couldn’t get a foothold on the game in the second-half?
Neuer: It was definitely harder for us after that. I think that it was clear that we weren’t going to win the game 3-2, or even level the score at 2-2. It was certainly easier for Real Madrid, and you can’t expect us to turn the game around with 10 men.
Question: How worried are you about the defence in front of you after Javi’s suspension on top of the fact that Mats Hummels may still not be fit to play?
Neuer: We’ll see how Mats is doing. If not, David (Alaba) is a quality centre-back, who has performed well in that position in the past. I think that we can keep a clean sheet with the players that are currently available to us.
Question: What gives you hope for the leg in Madrid?
Neuer: The first-half. If we had respected Real Madrid a bit more, then we could have gone into the dressing room at half time with a more convincing lead. We know that we can score against Real, the opportunities were there. Despite everything, we’re still in it.
Question: What was your reaction to the attack on Borussia Dortmund’s team bus?
Neuer: It was certainly a shock to us all, for all footballers, for all of us as human beings. We wish Marc Bartra the best for his recovery, and that things like that don’t happen again in our society. We also hope that the security forces do all they can in each city wherein big events are taking place, to avoid such things.
