Thomas Müller opens up on how to move on from the UCL disappointment

Thomas Müller took some time during a charity event to discuss Bayern Munich’s recent disappointment in the Champions League with SportBild. He set out how the squad must push forward to a strong finish in the Bundesliga next weekend, capturing a double:

When you think back, it doesn’t feel good. But we have to keep going. I hope that after our two days off we will focus on the cup final (the team was not training Sunday or today). That’s our main focus. We want to use the game against Stuttgart to build momentum for the final.

If there was any doubt that Bayern would be motivated to play after the excruciating Champions League loss to Real Madrid, Müller scoffed at the notion.

The cup final absolutely motivates us. Of course, we know that we are striving for something bigger, and that it was possible. The cup final is admittedly not the highest of feelings that you can achieve in a season. But it’s very important for our season finale that we win the cup final and go through. We want to come home with a cup, stand on the balcony of the city hall for our fans. Especially since we did not win the cup last season. If you take the tennis world rankings as a comparison, we still have points to win there.

When accessing how Bayern found itself on the outside looking in at the Champions League final, Müller cited some unfortunate luck as driving force behind the disappointment.

There is something of a common thread that runs through [Bayern’s Champions League exits]. Of course, it wasn’t always 100% close; against Madrid [in 2014] and Barcelona [in 2015] we were knocked out legitimately without having much bad luck. You always try to recalibrate.

This time, though, it was so complex that there is no obvious point at which to start: both individual mistakes and referee decisions were not always in our favor. Despite that: it was not on account of effort and the quality of our play. It’s accordingly difficult to make a pinpoint analysis.

The charity event was to support the charity YoungWings, which helps children and adolescents between the ages of 12 and 21 who are mourning the loss of a family member, close relative or other important caregiver.