Pep Guardiola said Bayern Munich turned the Champions League tie with Juventus around “emotionally, not tactically.”
After Juve fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in the first leg, the Germans repeated the trick and eventually emerged 4-2 winners in extra time.
“The comeback was performed emotionally, not tactically,” Guardiola told Mediaset Premium in Italy.
Pep Guardiola said Bayern Munich turned the Champions League tie with Juventus around “emotionally, not tactically.”
After Juve fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in the first leg, the Germans repeated the trick and eventually emerged 4-2 winners in extra time.
“The comeback was performed emotionally, not tactically,” Guardiola told Mediaset Premium in Italy.
“When you are 2-1 up at the Allianz Arena, the pressure builds. It’s tough. Franck Ribery and Kingsley Coman did well, then Douglas Costa is capable of dribbling and crossing, so he was important.
“This is football, one minute they say you’re world beaters, the next you’re a disaster. We kept our heads and at the 69th minute I did think we’d make it, but only if we got that first goal back.”
The game changed on its substitutions, as Kingsley Coman gave Bayern a different dimension and Mario Mandzukic replaced man of the match Alvaro Morata.
“It was difficult for us to deal with Morata, but when Mandzukic came on we were able to control it better. He’s dangerous in the box, less so out of it.
“It takes more than 11 men to win a game. Alex Sandro was tired and Coman fresh with great pace. It’s not easy to overturn a 2-0 deficit against an Italian team, so we needed to show patience.
“We just have regrets for the way we started the match and hopefully we’ll learn from it for the quarter-finals.
“If you want to win the Champions League, you need to beat the big teams and Juventus really impressed me tonight.”
Juventus director Beppe Marotta complained about the refereeing, specifically Morata’s incorrectly disallowed goal.
“Juventus are too big a club to complain about this,” mused Guardiola. “When you lose, you shake hands and go home. You compliment the opposition.
“They had chances and scored twice. Perhaps the goal was not offside, but these things happen in football.”