After the 0:3 in the quarterfinal first leg of the Champions League at Manchester City, FC Bayern is facing elimination. Coach Thomas Tuchel did not see the result “at all”.

Despite the clear first leg defeat in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel has praised his team in high tones.

“I don’t see the result at all,” the Munich coach said after Tuesday night’s 3-0 defeat on Amazon Prime. “We were punished in phases where we were absolutely the better team, where we had the momentum on our side.” Tuchel stressed, “There was more in it.”

He even “fell in love with this team in shock,” Tuchel continued. “We fought back emotionally, got grittier and had to. If it sounds stupid: Today it was really fun.”

Indeed, Bayern stayed in the game well into the second half. Manchester had taken the lead in the 27th minute through Rodri. The 0:2 in the 70th minute by Bernardo Silva was preceded by a serious ball loss by center back Dayot Upamecano in the build-up play.

Up to that point, Tuchel had seen “a very good performance.” “We deserved at least one goal, we gave away at least one or two.”

That’s because Munich still conceded the 0:3 through superstar Erling Haaland (76th), making a place in the semifinals a distant prospect ahead of the second leg next Wednesday. “A very bitter result,” Tuchel said. But the 49-year-old, who saw his team fail to beat SC Freiburg in the DFB Cup a week ago, did not want to write off progress just yet. “Football is soccer, nothing is given away.” (with RS)