Villarreal striker Gerard Moreno aimed a dig at comments from Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann in the midst of their Champions League quarter-final.
The Bayern boss said after the German champions first leg defeat in Spain that the Spanish side “made the mistake of letting us live” by only winning the game by a solitary goal. Yet Villarreal stunned Bayern once again in the second leg as Samuel Chukwueze’s late goal earned them a 1-1 draw on the night and progress through to the last four.
Moreno – who set up Chukwueze for the late winner with a perfectly-timed threat through ball – brought up Nagelsmann’s quotes after the game in a thinly-veiled dig at the German. "In the first leg we made the mistake of not finishing the tie, and all these comments serve as motivation for us. They made the mistake today of not killing us off and we took advantage of that. What this team has done is great."
It was another historic night for the Yellow Submarine, who built on last season’s remarkable Europa League success – in which they beat Arsenal and Manchester United along the way – to reach the Champions League last four for the second time in their history. The remarkable triumph over Bayern, one of the competition’s favourites, was even more eye-catching than their Round of 16 progress past Juventus.
Villarreal defender Juan Foyth, formerly of Tottenham, explained on BT Sport after the game: “It is a special night for the club and for the town, it is a historic moment. We competed really well and tonight, we will celebrate then tomorrow, we will go again. The equaliser? I knew from the moment that went in we would need to maintain our concentration and to continue to defend well against some unbelievable. Kingsley Coman is the hardest player in a one-vs-one that I have played against. The victory took a lot of patience, a lot of concentration and a lot of calmness. We watched a lot of videos of Bayern Munich playing and we did the job on the pitch.”
Have Your Say! Can Villarreal win this season's Champions League? Tell us what you think here.
As much as there was jubilation for the Spanish side, it was a night of frustration for Bayern. Thomas Muller explained after the game: “Maybe we have to blame ourselves for not scoring another goal. But a goal against us was definitely not in the air, we defended well in the game. Then they have a situation near the end. If you just take today's game, we clearly should have had a better result. Adding the first leg however, and we have to be happy to have only lost that 1-0. But tonight’s result is difficult.”
As for Bayern boss Nagelsmann, he neglected a missed chance by Muller ahead of Villarreal’s equaliser, when he headed wide of goal when unmarked in a central area: "Thomas has to score that, you don't get many of those." Villarreal will face the winners of Liverpool ’s tie against Benfica in the last four.
