Hitzfeld: We’re still in with a great chance

After Getafe’s last-minute equaliser to seal a 1-1 draw in the UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg, Bayern must now win the return or draw while scoring at least twice to make the semi-finals. The German league leaders dominated the first period but failed to make the most of a couple of excellent chances on the break after that. Despite the draw, coach Ottmar Hitzfeld remained upbeat: “We’re very strong away from home, so we can go there and win. I remain optimistic about our chances of going through.“

Reaction to Bayern v Getafe CF

Ottmar Hitzfeld: “We played really well in the first half and should have led 2-0 at half-time. We created chances every two or three minutes. Getafe applied the pressure for quarter of an hour after the break, but we controlled the game again after that. We had glorious chances on the break and we’ve got to be making it 2-0. But if you don’t get the second, you’re always going to come under pressure at the end. Getafe refused to accept a 1-0 defeat, they kept coming at us. They have terrific morale, and they ground out an equaliser. We had the chances for a much better result than that, but we still have a great chance of going through, although obviously we could have made it a lot easier for ourselves. 3-1 or 4-1 would have been the right result today. Now we’ll need to concentrate like never before when we go there, but we’re very strong away from home, so we can go there and win. I remain optimistic about our chances of going through.“

Lukas Podolski: “We played very well for the first 20 minutes, for the whole of the first half in fact, but it was all a bit ominous in the second half. Getafe came into it more and more, they made chances like the one that hit the post, and then we’ve given away a stupid goal. We had chances of our own, but we didn’t put them away. Now we’ll have to go there and do our best to win the game.“

Mark van Bommel: “You sensed an equaliser was coming. There was a huge hole in midfield when they scored. Our rearguard was lined up across the penalty area, and the rest of the players were up the other end. That can’t be happening at that stage in a European tie. But we’ve scored goals away from home wherever we’ve been, and now we’ll go to Getafe knowing we have to score there as well. Obviously, we can’t be failing to take our chances like that. It would have been over if we’d made it 2-0.“

Bastian Schweinsteiger: “We had enough clear-cut chances. It would have been a completely different match if we’d made it 2-0. But as we all saw, Getafe are capable of very good football. They didn’t beat Real Madrid and Barcelona by chance. We’ve failed to wrap it up here and now. The fact it’s ended as a draw is our own fault. We didn’t deliver up front today.“

Michael Laudrup (Getafe coach): “We faced a very good Bayern Munich in the first half, and we also showed far too much respect, especially in the first ten minutes. We matched them in the second half. We applied a lot of pressure in the last 10 or 15 minutes, we had the bulk of the possession, and we managed to strike right at the end. I think it’s wide open in the return, but we mustn’t think we can just set out our stall and defend.“