Muller: 'The Freiburg loss was bittersweet'
"It's bitter and not easy to analyze," Muller said after the match at the Allianz Stadium on the evening of April 4. "We didn't play badly. But we lacked precision in the final touches."
Muller acknowledges Freiburg as a cohesive team. That makes it difficult for Bayern for about the last third of the field. "We don't have enough ideas," added the 33-year-old attacking midfielder.
In the German Cup quarter-final, Upamecano headed Bayern's opener in the 19th minute. Freiburg needed just eight minutes to equalize, though, thanks to a Nicolas Hofler volley. The two teams struggled until 90+3, when Jamal Musiala touched the ball after Hofler's high shot. The referee awarded Freiburg a penalty and Lucas Holer made it successfully to seal the victory 2-1.
Regarding Freiburg's penalty, Muller and another Bayern player, De Ligt all agreed with the referee. "If you touch the ball with your hands like that, it's always a penalty," said the Dutch midfielder.
Regarding the match, De Ligt admitted Bayern were not good enough to win. He emphasized that Bayern had a lot on the ball but did not create the corresponding number of scoring opportunities. Freiburg needed only 33% to finish 10 times, only six times behind Bayern. "It's a shame, but we have to look ahead," De Ligt said. "The next game is also against Freiburg in the Bundesliga and we have to play better."
The defeat on the evening of 4/4 caused Bayern to stop before the semi-finals of the German Cup for the third consecutive season. Two seasons ago, the Allianz Arena home team were eliminated in the second round.
The loss to Freiburg also made Bayern lose the chance to treble. Coach Thomas Tuchel's teachers and students currently lead the Bundesliga with 55 points after 26 matches, two points ahead of Dortmund. They also have two Champions League quarter-finals with Man City on April 11 and 19. If they win, they will go to the semi-finals to meet the winner of the Real - Chelsea pair.
This is only Tuchel's second game in charge of Bayern. In the first match, the successor of Julian Nagelsmann defeated the old team Dortmund 4-2. Tuchel was sacked by Chelsea in September 2022, due to disagreements over how to build the team with new owner Todd Boehly. The German coach once brought to Stamford Bridge a Champions League, a European Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup.
In another German Cup quarter-final, Frankfurt beat Union Berlin 2-0. This round still has two matches Nurnberg - Stuttgart and Leipzig - Dortmund taking place on the evening of April 5. The draw for the semi-finals took place on April 9. Last season, Freiburg lost to Leipzig 2-4 in the final penalty shootout.
