Bayern feel cheated, says Rummenigge

Antoine Griezmann’s goal was marginally offside and Atletico’s penalty occurred outside the box, leaving the Die Roten official seething at the refereeing mistakes

Bayern Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says the side feel cheated after their Champions League semi-final exit 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.

“The Atletico goal was offside, the foul for the penalty [which Atletico missed] was outside of the box.

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“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.”

Boateng: Bayern solely to blame for Champions League exit

The German champions beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 but still went crashing out of the Champions League on away goals and the defender feels his side can only blame themselves

Jerome Boateng believes Bayern Munich only have themselves to blame for suffering elimination from the Champions League semi-finals at the hands of Atletico Madrid.

The German champions trailed 1-0 from the first-leg when they welcomed Diego Simeone’s men to the Allianz Arena for Tuesday’s return fixture. Xabi Alonso levelled the tie with a deflected free-kick in the first half, but Antoine Griezmann scored a huge away goal on the break for Atletico after Thomas Muller had been denied from the penalty spot.

Although Robert Lewandowski set up a tense finale with a header in the 74th minute, Fernando Torres’ failure to convert from the spot did not prove costly as the 2-2 aggregate score sent Atletico into the final on away goals.

Boateng was disappointed Bayern were punished by Griezmann for a momentary loss of concentration early in the second half, and says they must take responsibility for failing to reach the final.

“We played very well in the first half, Atletico did not have a chance,” Boateng said.

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“In the second half we weren’t attentive for two minutes, but we played well after conceding the goal, too.

“We gave it our all, but that’s football. We must blame ourselves for not taking our chances.”

A crestfallen Lewandowski felt Bayern deserved to secure a trip to Milan on May 28 ahead of Atletico.

“It’s a huge shame. We deserved it,” he said in a post-match television interview.

“We just needed one goal, but that is football. We’re not in the final. We searched for everything and fought for everything, but just couldn’t get there.”

“It was a siege” – Torres proud of Atletico after holding off Bayern

The Spaniard described his side’s Champions League semi-final second leg against the Bavarians as a “match of much suffering” but was delighted to see them come through it

Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres likened the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich to a “siege”.

Diego Simeone’s men were beaten 2-1 on the night but still advanced through to the final on away goals, in a fast-paced, intense match which saw the hosts dominate proceedings from the get go.

Bayern brought a relentless tempo to the field as they looked to blast through Atletico’s rigid structure but Antoine Griezmann’s second-half strike proved decisive as the Spaniards reached their second Champions League final in three seasons.

And afterwards Torres, who, like Bayern’s Thomas Muller, had a spot-kick saved in the game, admitted it was a “match of much suffering” for his side but believes Atletico were able to show that their strong resilience means they are a match for any team.

“It has been a match of much suffering. We were overwhelmed,” he said.

“We could not find a way to put pressure on them. It has been a siege, but sometimes you cannot play the game you want. But it is also nice to win having suffered.

“We have had a very complicated path [to the final], we have beaten the best in Europe. We want to be champions. This team is ready to play against anyone.”

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Referee Cuneyt Cakir awarded Atletico’s penalty for Javi Martinez’s tackle on Torres, despite contact taking place outside of the box.

The striker admitted he believed the correct decision would have been a free-kick, but was unconcerned as the incident ultimately had no bearing on the outcome.

“I thought it was outside the box on the pitch, but the play is quick and sometimes the referee sees where the player goes down,” he added to BT Sport.

“I saw the replay and it was clearly outside, but in the end it didn’t change the final result so we don’t have to think about that.”

Griezmann urged calm from his Atletico team-mates ahead of the final in Milan on May 28, with maintaining a challenge to win La Liga their next priority.

“We’re delighted. It was difficult, a really hard game, we had a great opponent in front of us and we had to both defend and try to score,” he said.

“They were better, but we scored an away goal, which was important. We need to keep grounded and first of all think of the Liga before the final.”

Bayern Munich 2-1 Atletico Madrid (agg 2-2) Simeone's men book another final

Even Fernando Torres’ penalty miss failed to stop the Spanish side marching into another decider, while Thomas Muller also erred from the spot in a pulsating clash


Atletico Madrid followed up their Barcelona heroics by dumping another favourite out of the Champions League, as a 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich nevertheless sent them through to the final on away goals. 

Atletico held a 1-0 aggregate advantage from the first leg at Vicente Calderon, but Xabi Alonso cancelled it out when his free-kick found the back of the net following a deflection off Jose Maria Gimenez.

Bayern had been relentless in their pressing and were offered the chance to lead the tie for the first time when referee Cuneyt Cakir awarded them a penalty following Gimenez’s foul on Javi Martinez.

However, Thomas Muller, back in the line-up after being benched for the meeting in Madrid, was denied from the spot by Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

Muller’s failure to convert proved to have a huge cost, with Antoine Griezmann racing away early in the second half and slotting a disguised shot beyond Manuel Neuer at his near post.

Robert Lewandowski’s 74th-minute header made it 2-2 on aggregate, but, after Fernando Torres was kept out from the spot by Neuer following a controversial penalty decision, it was not enough to offer Pep Guardiola – who suffered a third straight semi-final exit at the Bayern helm – the chance to sign off his tenure in Bavaria with a shot at the Champions League title.

Bayern controlled possession from kick-off, but, after Lewandowski headed wide in the 12th minute, Gabi offered a reminder of the threat posed by Atletico when he forced Neuer into a routine save with a powerful drive from 25 yards.

Guardiola’s side were unperturbed and Jerome Boateng – starting a second successive match after returning from three months out at the weekend – picked out Muller’s diagonal run into the box, who, rather than shoot, teed up Lewandowski for a shot that was blocked by the onrushing Oblak.

Lewandowski and Philipp Lahm missed further chances as Bayern applied relentless pressure, and they finally broke through in the 31st minute.

Augusto Fernandez conceded a free kick near the edge of the box for a foul on David Alaba and Alonso drilled the resultant free-kick into the back of the net with the help of a deflection off Gimenez that wrong-footed Neuer.

Despite being rejoined in the centre of defence by Diego Godin, things got worse for Gimenez two minutes later when he was adjudged to have fouled Martinez inside the box while defending a corner, conceding a penalty.

The centre-back was shown a yellow card by the referee, but Oblak bailed him out by diving to his right and saving Muller’s spot-kick, bouncing back to his feet to block Alonso’s follow-up.

Franck Ribery and Diego Simeone were involved in a physical confrontation before the half-time whistle, but tempers were quickly cooled.

Simeone replaced Fernandez with Yannick Ferreira Carrasco at half-time and eight minutes later Atletico had their crucial away goal.

A brilliant pass from Torres released Griezmann on the counter-attack, and the France international guided a cool finish beyond Neuer.

Lewandowski set up a tense final 15 minutes when he powered a header into the back of the net after Arturo Vidal nodded Alaba’s delivery from the left back across goal.

Torres had the chance to wrap the game up when he was sent tumbling by Martinez and the referee pointed to the spot, despite initial contact appearing to be made outside of the box.

The former AC Milan striker had his penalty saved by Neuer to the keeper’s right, and Oblak produced a great stop from Douglas Costa’s deflected strike with two minutes remaining to ensure Simeone’s side will have another chance to claim the Champions League title, having lost to arch-rivals Real Madrid in the 2013-14 final.