The Germany international was devastated after Lionel Messi and Neymar left Bayern Munich needing a minor miracle to reach the Champions League final
Thomas Muller believes Bayern Munich have blown their Champions League final hopes and only have a “minuscule” chance of eliminating Barcelona following their 3-0 first-leg defeat.
The absence of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery impacted the effectiveness of Pep Guardiola’s blunt attack and three goals – a double from Lionel Messi and a stoppage-time strike from Neymar – in the final 13 minutes saw them defeated in Wednesday’s clash at Camp Nou.
Despite the Germany international’s devastation at being humiliated at Camp Nou – where they sealed a 7-0 aggregate victory at this stage two seasons ago – Muller refused to single out any team-mate for blame and vowed to push for a miracle in the second leg at the Allianz Arena.
“For a long time we defended well against a team with many lively, pacey players,” the forward told Sky. “In the first half we were lucky, we needed goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to keep us in the game on two occasions.
“During the second half we felt quite good. We did not have major chances, but it is not easy to play here. It certainly did not feel like we were going to lose 3-0.
“But then we put ourselves into that situation. Now we have to stand together and not look for scapegoats. But we must accept that our chance of reaching the final is miniscule now.
“It would be sensational if we turned this around. But you can be sure that we will give everything we have until the final whistle at the Allianz Arena.”
Bayern take on Barca in the second leg next Tuesday knowing that a goal for the Liga leaders will see them needing to score at least five to progress.
Ahead of that clash, Bayern are back in Bundesliga action at home to Augsburg on Saturday, although Guardiola is likely to field a second string side in the hopes his team can repeat the comeback heroics they showed against Porto, when they overturned a 3-1 deficit with a 6-1 win in Germany.