Kovac and Lewandowski’s Comments After Bayern’s 1-3 defeat from Liverpool

DBasia.news –  The Bayern Munich coach, Niko Kovac, accepted his side’s defeat to Liverpool in the last 16 of the Champions League. But according to Bayern’s flagship striker, Robert Lewandowski, Bayern lost because of tactics that were too defensive.

Liverpool get rid of Bayern Munich in the last 16 of the 2018-19 Champions League with a 3-1 aggregate goal. Draw scoreless at Anfield, the Reds won a landslide 3-1 at Bayern headquarters in the second leg which took place at the Allianz Arena on Thursday (3/14) morning Western Indonesian Time.

Liverpool won through two goals from Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk, while the only goal from Bayern was an own goal by Joel Matip. Bayern dominated possession 58 compared to 42 percent Liverpool but lost in terms of intensity of play.

Bayern tend to be careful in their play so they don’t create many dangerous opportunities in the Liverpool 16-meter area. They only released seven kicks and two of them were on target.

Compare with Liverpool who released 10 kicks and six strikes on target towards Manuel Neuer. Naturally, Bayern’s top scorer, Robert Lewandowski, did not get enough supply from his teammates and was frustrated by his team’s play.

“We knew from the start that this would be a tough match. But in both matches, we played too defensively,” Lewandowski said, quoted from UEFA official page.

“We do not try to suppress and create opportunity situations. Today we did not take a big enough risk,” he continued.

“We played too deep. We have tried to pressure Liverpool, but sometimes the situation is two to four. This is not our game,” the Polish striker said.

Unlike Lewandowski, Kovac accepted Bayern’s defeat because of a simple thought: Liverpool played better. According to him, Jurgen Klopp’s team knew exactly how to exploit Bayern’s weaknesses.

“We face a very, very strong opponent. I want to congratulate Liverpool and Juergen Klopp. They are better in two matches,” added Kovac.

“We keep the match open until the second goal. You see dead ball can determine in a match like this.”

“They closed our space well. We did not play quietly and failed to serve Lewandowski, which is why this was a proper defeat.”

“Our opponents attacked very early and at high speed. We tried to use the fullback to attack. We did not succeed because our opponents performed very well, while we were not on the best day. They exposed our limitations,” explained the Croatian coach.

Meanwhile, Klopp is very proud to see the mentality and strength of playing foster children.

The Allianz Arena is not a friendly place for English clubs, but Liverpool can beat Bayern convincingly there. Without a doubt, Klopp thinks he has returned to the ranks of strong clubs in Europe.

“Whomever we get as opponents in the next round, we will accept. Children love this competition, they really are passionate in moments like this,” Klopp said.

“The attitude of the players is extraordinary. The three front players are amazing, while the kids who come in later are very helpful.”

“We have set a marker tonight, that the LFC returns to the top level of European football again,” concluded the former Borussia Dortmund coach.