Bayern aims to advance towards Wembley’s gates as they journey to Spain for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid. Stay tuned for all the pre-match excitement leading up to Wednesday’s pivotal match in our live blog. Plus, catch free live streams of their final training session in Munich and the pre-match press conference in Madrid.
Over and out
That’s all from Tuchel and Bayern’s pre-match press conference. The team will now complete their final preparations before tomorrow’s semi-final second leg against Real Madrid.
On Real Madrid’s attack
“It’s very difficult. Lots of teams have tried. Sometimes you simply need to accept their quality. It’s about showing the right mentality tomorrow. We want to beat Real as a team and get to Wembley.”
On Harry Kane
“He’s a great character. He’s the captain of England. He’s shown everything we’d hoped from him. He’ll be important again tomorrow.”
On the German teams in European semi-finals
“It’s a big boost for German football. Obviously you also need some luck over the course of the competition. I wouldn’t draw too many conclusions from it, but it’s a big boost.”
On phases of the game tomorrow
“We will experience different phases as to who sets the rhythm. It will alternate in waves. We need the possession phase to recover and hurt the opposition. But we have to protect ourselves very well against Real’s counter-attacking play.
It’s the players’ game. It will be very important to play as a team. We need a lot of solidarity, we need belief and we have to work for it. Real play a bit more offensively in home games. The starting position is clear, the winner goes to Wembley, and we want to be the winner.”
On Real’s Toni Kroos
“Toni has been a key player for many years. You can’t praise that highly enough. He handles the pressure effortlessly. He dominates the rhythm of the game. We’re prepared for that and hope that we’re the grain of sand in his passing machine. But we’re not just playing against Toni, we’re playing against the whole team, which is very well drilled. The game is very multi-faceted, so the task is very big.”
On central defence
“At the moment, Eric Dier and Matthijs de Ligt are in the lead. They deserve to continue playing together. Matthijs has given the green light.”
On tomorrow’s game
“I think it could be a wave-like game with different phases. Both teams will also have to endure some suffering at times. Both teams are also extremely strong at keeping the ball. Both teams are very strong in quick transition play. I think it will be a very complex game with different phases. In the phases where you have the momentum, you need luck and to be clinical.”
On Real Madrid
“It’s tough to single out one player. Real had had amazing players throughout their history. They have lots of guys who can make the difference.”
On whether he’s prepared for a shootout, like in 2012
“It’s a semi-final, a knockout game. The goalkeepers are prepare for anything. We as a team are also prepared for it to go 120 minutes or even to penalties.”
Neuer on what it’ll come down to tomorrow
“It’ll come down to good form on the day for both teams. The first goal is also important, that punch. It always comes down to little things against a team like Real. Focus will be very high from both sides. Both teams are potent in attack.”
