Vincent Kompany: “No excuses” after Bayern's clear loss to Barcelona

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany has taken responsibility for his team’s 4-1 defeat to Barcelona and says he’s confident they will learn from the loss.

Vincent Kompany said there were “no excuses” after his Bayern Munich side lost 4-1 to FC Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Bayern recovered from Barcelona’s early opener to equalise, but were punished by the ruthless Catalan giants, with hat-trick hero Raphinha in particular causing the Germans problems.

“We lost, it was a clear defeat. We will stand together and learn from this defeat. The first goal is bitter. In the first half, I had the feeling for half an hour that we could win. Then the game changed with the second and third goals. But the right analysis will come in peace so that we can learn from it,” Kompany told German television after the game.

“I want to make a very precise analysis. I don’t want to beat around the bush. We didn’t find a solution to the counterattacks and the individual play of the three (Lewandowski, Yamal, Raphinha). We were a step too late in the decisive moments. 

“There are no excuses. What’s important is that we learn from this game. This game won’t decide our season. Why there was such a big difference between the first and second half is something we need to look at.”

On his decision to make a four-man substitution after Barcelona’s fourth goal, Kompany explained:

“We brought on a lot of players because we needed freshness. It’s not unusual to change four players when you’re down. The difference [in the scoreline] was big at that point, so we wanted the new energy. We wanted to bring a different dynamic into the game.”