Tuchel: ‘Important we believe’ in Madrid 2nd leg

Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel has said it’s “important we believe” after Real Madrid got the edge in their Champions League semifinal with a 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena.

The Spanish giants will head back to Madrid for the second leg as favourites to reach the final, but Tuchel insists the tie remains wide open ahead of the game at the Bernabeu next week.

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“It’s important we believe,” said Tuchel. “Of course it’s possible [to win in Madrid]. It’s still a 50-50 match and I think we will be able to great chances there. The goal is absolutely clear, we need to win.

“We need to be brave and full of confidence and very clinical in our game.”

Afterwards, Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti claimed his team were not at their best despite watching Vinícius Júnior score two vital goals either side of half-time.

Bayern went 2-1 up with quick goals after half-time, but Tuchel was left frustrated at what he believed were a number of missed chances to score a third.

“The result is the result, it doesn’t make any sense to discuss to spend much time about it,” he said. “Real Madrid have done it before, scoring two goals out of two chances. We are not first team to which it happens. They are clinical and have the patience to wait for it. Real Madrid does this to teams so we should not be disappointed for too long.

“We could have scored a third but we weren’t clinical enough. We had enough chances to score the third and committed some errors. The situation is clear, we go there and the winner takes it all.”

Tuchel also repeated his pre-match predication that Serge Gnabry will score against Real Madrid. Gnabry was named on the bench for the first leg and only played the final 10 minute.

But asked again about his claim, Tuchel said the forward will score in Madrid: “We have the second half in the Bernabeu and he will score.”

Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain face each other in the other semifinal on Wednesday.