Strong words from Bayern Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge after his side was knocked out of the Champions League at the hands of Atletico Madrid. Bayern won the second leg of the tie 2-1 on Tuesday but were eliminated on away goals having lost the first leg 1-0.
However, Rummenigge believes the result should have been different after accusing referees of getting key decisions wrong, in particular failing to call offside in the build up to Antoine Griezmann’s tie-winning goal for Atletico.
“We feel a little bit cheated,” he said after the game.
“I think our lads played well and deserved to win. They also deserve to go to Milan. This team deserve total respect. Atlético defended well, as we expected they would. The defeat is painful, but the team should not feel ashamed, they give it their all”.
“The Atletico goal was offside, the foul for the penalty [which Atletico missed] was outside of the box.
“The referee had two matches in the last seven days. I don’t know whether those UEFA guys can have too many matches, too.
The UEFA delegate told me: ‘It’s a shame what he did.'”
Forward Thomas Muller also reflected on a bad night for his side, including a missed penalty which would have put Bayern 2-0 up.
Instead, Griezmann scored an equaliser to cancel out Xabi Alonso’s first-half opener, before Robert Lewandowski scored in the 74th minute to set up a tense finish.
“Football sometimes can be extreme. We have made many things right and just a little bit wrong,” Muller said.
“Sadly enough, it was not enough. I haven’t witnessed such an evening many times. The disappointment hurts. And I am personally disappointed that I have had my penalty kick stopped.”
