No complaints from Hitzfeld
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
Article summary
Ottmar Hitzfeld offered no excuses as a Roy Makaay hat-trick sent FC Bayern München crashing.
Article body
FC Bayern München coach Ottmar Hitzfeld admitted his side only had themselves to blame after they had crashed to their first UEFA Champions League defeat at the Olympiastadion in five seasons, 3-2 against RC Deportivo La Coruña on Wednesday.
'Very disappointed'
"I'm very disappointed. Our defeat was fully deserved,” Hitzfeld said. "We gave Deportivo two goals with poor defending. We didn't concentrate enough and were playing for the offside, which cost us.
Real blow
"We were able to put them under more pressure in the second half, but the third goal came as a real blow and it was tough after using so much energy to come back. Apart from 20 minutes in the second half we were unable to dominate the match. With performances like this we will not get far in the Champions League against top Spanish sides."
Makaay hat-trick
After falling behind to two Roy Makaay strikes in the first half, Bayern battled back after the break and drew level through Hasan Salihamidzic and Giovane Elber within 19 minutes of the restart. The momentum had swung in Bayern's favour but it was Deportivo who struck next, Juan Valerón threading the ball through to Makaay who beat the offside trap before firing past Oliver Kahn to claim his hat-trick with 13 minutes to play.
Ballack hits crossbar
German international Michael Ballack, who reached the Champions League final with Bayer 04 Leverkusen last season, struck the crossbar with a header late on as the home side pushed for the equaliser, but was unable to prevent Bayern from slumping to their first UEFA Champions League defeat at home in 33 matches. Bayern had not lost at the Olympiastadion in the Champions League since falling 1-0 against IFK Göteborg on December 12 1997. "We weren't there in the first half and we let Deportivo do whatever they wanted," Ballack said. "We woke up too late."
Depor delight
Deportivo coach Javier Irureta was delighted with the victory that sees his side take command of Group G. "This win was deserved and it came against one of the best teams in the game. We can be proud of this but it is just the beginning."
