Before the Champions League banger
Neuer checks off 1:3: “A really big game is waiting for us”
Stuttgart’s Leonidas Stergiou scores the goal to make it 1-0 against Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
Bayern captain Neuer finds it difficult to accept any defeat. But he quickly pushes the ones in Stuttgart away: Real Madrid and the chance of the Champions League final await.
For Bayern Munich’s captain For Manuel Neuer, the defeat in the Bundesliga at VfB Stuttgart does not have a major impact on the upcoming big Champions League task at Real Madrid.
“We never accept defeat,” said the national soccer goalkeeper after the 1:3 (1:1) draw in Stuttgart. “We know it was a sandwich game,” said the 38-year-old Neuer, explaining his team’s lack of 100% concentration in Stuttgart against the third-placed team. “The fact is that we know that a really big game awaits us on Wednesday. There will be another final waiting for us at the Bernabéu Stadium – and we want to win it,” said Neuer.
After the 2-2 draw in the first game against Real in Munich, the winner will advance to the premier class final on June 1st in London against Borussia Dortmund or Paris Saint-Germain. Sports director Max Eberl described the defeat in Stuttgart as “annoying”, but also not as dramatic with a view to the knockout game in Madrid: “I don’t think the defeat only affects my self-confidence (pronounced Mü).”