Manuel Neuer made a howler during Bayern Munich’s Champions League defeat (Picture: Getty)
Manuel Neuer has spoken out after his shocking howler cost Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.
Bayern were just a few minutes away from setting up an all-German Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund as they led Madrid 3-2 on aggregate following Alphonso Davies’ stunning opener at the Bernabeu.
But Neuer, who had made several brilliant saves on the night, then made a huge mistake, spilling Vinicius Junior’s strike into the path of Joselu, who pounced to level the tie on 88 minutes.
Extra-time was beckoning but Joselu then scored an injury-time winner to send the Bernabeu wild and Bayern Munich crashing out of the Champions League.
It was a devastating moment for Neuer, one of Bayern Munich’s greatest ever players who was looking to lift the Champions League for a third time at the age of 38.
‘Anyone who’s ever played football knows how I’m feeling right now,’ the German veteran told DAZN after the match.
‘That we’ve been knocked out in the closing stages, having led 1-0 until the 85th minute, it’s extremely bitter.
Neuer made a huge mistake to allow Real Madrid to equalise (Picture: Getty)
‘We’d taken one step to London, we saw ourselves in the final and now I’m lost for words. It’s extremely bitter for me.
‘I expected the ball to land a bit differently to my chest but it went a bit higher and it was difficult to get a hold of it. And then Joselu was there quicker and it was difficult to defend.
‘For a goalkeeper who’s been around for a while it’s something I’ve already experienced, but the goal was brutal.’
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Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel, meanwhile, described Real Madrid’s first goal as a result of a ‘very unusual mistake’ from Neuer.
‘We are almost through, it’s almost there and there was a very unusual mistake from our best player for the equaliser then we conceded the second one in stoppage time,’ he said.
‘When you are through in the 88th minute you see the end of the tunnel. Was it our very best match? No. But we didn’t need to be perfect, we just needed to be good enough in this moment.
‘In the moment when we had one player out with cramp, we conceded a goal we never usually would with our goalkeeper. You have to accept the result in the end.’
Real Madrid, 14-time winners in this competition, face Dortmund in the Champions League final after their 2-0 aggregate semi-final win over PSG.
Dortmund, who are just fifth in the Bundesliga, were European champions in 1997 and will contest their first final since 2013 at London’s Wembley Stadium on June 1.
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