Kovac believes Bayern deserved their defeat to Hoffenheim

Posted Sunday, October 06, 2019 by PA

Bayern Munich boss Niko Kovac admitted that his side deserved to lose as they suffered their first defeat of the Bundesliga season against Hoffenheim.

The Bavarians stunned Tottenham on Tuesday with a 7-2 victory in the Champions League, but failed to ignite upon return to league action.

A double from Sargis Adamyan guided Hoffenheim to a famous win over the defending Bundesliga champions, with Robert Lewandowski’s strike in vain for Bayern.

“We failed to repeat the strong performance from Tuesday,” Kovac said.

“The first half was decent, we had good chances and should have made more out of them, we should have been more determined.

“We didn’t play well in the second half, we made too many mistakes and never put our opponents under pressure. At the end of the day Hoffenheim’s victory wasn’t undeserved.”

Bayern goal keeper Manuel Neuer took the loss as a reminder that no opponents should be underestimated.

“We were motivated, we saw that before the match and at half-time,” he said.

“But we conceded the two goals too easily, that was our problem. It’s all up to us, but it was a warning for us, we get nothing for free, not even at home to a team on only five points like Hoffenheim.”

Hoffenheim’s victory was the first the club have ever claimed at Bayern.

Alfred Schreuder’s side were in need of a win, having not taken three points from any of their last four matches.

“I’m very, very proud of my team and the performance of course,” said Schreuder.

“We made history today, Hoffenheim have never won in Munich before. We can talk a lot about tactics today, but the lads played with lots of passion, they were bold and at the end of the day we scored two goals, whereas Bayern scored one.

“Bayern are absolutely top opponents of course, but we must try to win every match, always. We’ve said it all week and lived up to it today. All credit to my team, hats off.”

Hoffenheim keeper Oliver Baumann was kept busy by a dominant Bayern, but felt his side were deserving of the victory: “We allowed them only a few chances,” he said.

“Bayern dominated possession and attacked down the wings of course, but we thwarted an incredible number of moves, it felt like we won many tackles.

“And there were periods when we played very well and attacked boldly. We were rewarded for our courage today.”