Mats Hummels had put FC Bayern München on course for a place in the DFB Cup final with his goal to fire the home side the lead after 41 minutes, slotting home against his former club. However Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ousmane Dembélé struck for Dortmund to give Tuchel’s men a 3-2 victory and a trip to Berlin. Mats Hummels speaks to DFB.de about Bayern’s missed opportunities.
DFB.de: Mr Hummels, how disappointing is it to have gone out of the DFB Cup against Borussia Dortmund? It looked like Bayern more or less had this one in the bag?
Mats Hummels: No, we didn’t at all think that the game was won but we did have the chances to make victory certain. We actually had four or five clear goalscoring opportunities. We didn’t take them and as a result let BVB back in the game. We need to look at ourselves as to why we didn’t make it through or at least manage to take it to extra time. We let a place in the final go too easily so naturally it is a massive disappointment.
DFB.de: Bayern normally have that killer instinct and certainly the ability to wrap things up long before the 90 minutes are over.
Hummels: That’s right and we’ve shown that throughout most of the season and almost always in the past few weeks. Nearly all the time. But it hasn’t worked every now and then and today the timing of how things went wasn’t the best.
DFB.de: Did the course of the game resemble that of the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid?
Hummels: No, they were two completely different games. We were really clinical against Real, scoring three goals out of very few chances. This time we had a lot more and only scored two. The only good thing is this: we know full well that we can blame nobody other than ourselves. It’s going to hurt just like it did being knocked out by Real Madrid and it will be that way for the next few days, maybe even weeks.
DFB.de: What does this mean now for your season overall? Eight days ago you were still in three competitions, now you are probably “only” going to win the league. Is it just normal that a lot is going to come into question?
DFB.de: Were you injured or if not why did you come off just after the hour mark?
Hummels: My muscles were done by half-time. It was just like in the game against Mainz. The right side of my body didn’t feel right and there just came a point where I had nothing left. I couldn’t sprint anymore. I had issues with my hips, adductors, hamstring, calves, the lot. I said at half-time that it would be difficult but that I wanted to try and carry on. However I just didn’t have any more left in the tank.
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Mats Hummels had put FC Bayern München on course for a place in the DFB Cup final with his goal to fire the home side the lead after 41 minutes, slotting home against his former club. However Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ousmane Dembélé struck for Dortmund to give Tuchel’s men a 3-2 victory and a trip to Berlin. Mats Hummels speaks to DFB.de about Bayern’s missed opportunities.
DFB.de: Mr Hummels, how disappointing is it to have gone out of the DFB Cup against Borussia Dortmund? It looked like Bayern more or less had this one in the bag?
Mats Hummels: No, we didn’t at all think that the game was won but we did have the chances to make victory certain. We actually had four or five clear goalscoring opportunities. We didn’t take them and as a result let BVB back in the game. We need to look at ourselves as to why we didn’t make it through or at least manage to take it to extra time. We let a place in the final go too easily so naturally it is a massive disappointment.
DFB.de: Bayern normally have that killer instinct and certainly the ability to wrap things up long before the 90 minutes are over.
Hummels: That’s right and we’ve shown that throughout most of the season and almost always in the past few weeks. Nearly all the time. But it hasn’t worked every now and then and today the timing of how things went wasn’t the best.
DFB.de: Did the course of the game resemble that of the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid?
Hummels: No, they were two completely different games. We were really clinical against Real, scoring three goals out of very few chances. This time we had a lot more and only scored two. The only good thing is this: we know full well that we can blame nobody other than ourselves. It’s going to hurt just like it did being knocked out by Real Madrid and it will be that way for the next few days, maybe even weeks.
DFB.de: What does this mean now for your season overall? Eight days ago you were still in three competitions, now you are probably “only” going to win the league. Is it just normal that a lot is going to come into question?
DFB.de: Were you injured or if not why did you come off just after the hour mark?
Hummels: My muscles were done by half-time. It was just like in the game against Mainz. The right side of my body didn’t feel right and there just came a point where I had nothing left. I couldn’t sprint anymore. I had issues with my hips, adductors, hamstring, calves, the lot. I said at half-time that it would be difficult but that I wanted to try and carry on. However I just didn’t have any more left in the tank.
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DFB.de: Do you need a bit of time off now?
Hummels: We’ll see how I am by Friday. That’s definitely in consideration. I’ve realised that you can put aside a minor injury for a bit but eventually you need to give it a proper rest.
DFB.de:It looked as if Bayern lost their flow after you were brought off. Did that surprise you?
Hummels: We also had a big chance after that. I really don’t know how we didn’t manage to score when Arjen Robben had his chance cleared off the line. I think that was the moment that really changed the game. Having not scored, Dortmund then had a chance to counter and you could see it gave them that belief again. After that we conceded two brilliant goals from them, one brilliantly set up by Dembélé and one put away by him. That’s what makes it a classic, when you don’t take your chances and then you get caught.
DFB.de: How frustrated are you that you yourself put in a strong performance including scoring a goal, and then your team lost only once you had been substituted?
Hummels: To be honest, that is not important to me at all. Today it was about reaching the final. What’s disappointing is not being able to achieve that.
DFB.de: You barely celebrated after your goal against BVB.
Hummels: I don’t think that will surprise anybody at all. Celebrating excessively against Dortmund is not something I am going to do for the rest of my career.
DFB.de: Was that a gut feeling? Was it something spontaneous?
Hummels: I score so few goals that when it does happen, my reaction to it is always in the moment.
DFB.de: The result was obviously particularly disappointing for your departing captain Philipp Lahm.
Hummels: Definitely. Philipp would have really loved to have ended his career in Berlin lifting the trophy. It’s a shame for all of us. It would have been a worthy end to his days as a player.
DFB.de: How will you all get your heads up again to face Wolfsburg on Saturday?
Hummels: It’s always important that we do things right. After we lost the chance to win another trophy, we want to make sure we take another step closer to the league with a win. It will obviously be a difficult match mentally but I’m sure that we’ll give it everything to ensure that the rest of our season is still an exciting one. ###more###
