Neuer admits fault for opening goal

Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer believes he should have stayed on his line as he was beaten to the ball by Raul Jimenez to concede the first goal against Benfica on Wednesday night.

The Portuguese outfit gave the Bavarians a scare in the deciding leg after erasing the one-goal lead from the first leg early on in the deciding encounter.

"I should have stayed in the goal. Whether I would have stopped it had I stayed on my line is another question entirely. I saw that Raúl Jiménez would get to the ball first, so I made the decision to come out of my goal. In the end, I was a little bit too late," he told the official German Football Association website.

"Particularly their long balls that they tend to play up to the forwards are difficult to defend against. They have a lot of strong players, that can hold the ball up well and are good in the air. They are somewhat similar to Darmstadt, but of course on a different level. It's not easy playing against these kinds of teams."

Thankfully, the error did not cost his side as goals from Arturo Vidal and Thomas Muller secured their progress into the semi-finals, despite a late equaliser from Talisca.

"We did very well overall. We were facing a very strong side, and the tie showed once again that you can't underestimate anyone in the Champions League, especially in the knockout phases. It was a tight match," he added.