Thorup: “Luck wasn’t on our side today”

Reaction to the 3-2 defeat to Bayern

FC Augsburg came close to taking a point off FC Bayern at a sold-out WWK ARENA on Saturday. Here is the post-match reaction.

Ermedin Demirović: “Not getting anything from today’s game is really disappointing, but I still want to praise the whole team for this performance. Playing like that and scoring two goals against Bayern certainly isn’t a given. We fought for every ball, something that our team always does and something we need to continue doing. Scoring two goals today, including my first ever against Bayern, obviously gives me some confidence – but I’d rather have taken a point.”

Jeffrey Gouweleeuw: “We can be really pleased with our performance. We played well from the first whistle and I think we deserved to get something from the game. This team simply never gives up after going behind. We kept believing throughout the whole game. It was a fantastic match in front of a great crowd, but unfortunately without any points for us.”

Elvis Rexhbecaj: “It was a really good performance. We probably would have got something from the game if we weren’t playing against Bayern. We were lacking a bit of luck today, plus Bayern were extremely clinical in front of goal. It was nice to make my 50th Bundesliga appearance for FCA. Taking a point against Bayern would definitely have made it even better though. I would also have loved for my goal to have counted, however unfortunately I was offside by just a few millimetres. Now we have to recover and turn our full focus to Bochum from Tuesday. It won’t be about playing nice football there – we will have to fight and scrap all game long.”

Thomas Tuchel (FC Bayern coach): “We’re pleased with the result because we knew it would be a difficult game. Augsburg have had some good results against the top 6 and only lost in injury time against Leverkusen. We had to match their intensity and hard work, and were a little fortunate at the start of the game. We got better and responded to their first goal well. Despite a number of good chances from counter-attacks, it was a wild end to the game and it got nervy too – fair play to Augsburg for a good performance.”

Jess Thorup (FC Augsburg coach): “Luck wasn’t on our side today. We played really well from the start, put our opponents under pressure and created some good chances. A lot of 50-50 situations didn’t go in our favour and you need them to if you’re going to take anything against Bayern. I’m pleased with my team’s performance – they showed character and belief, and kept pushing right until the end.”