“Ladies and gentlemen,
It's been one of those evenings when you ask yourself: wouldn't it have been better to stay at home and not have to go through this? You ask yourself how this result could ever come about. This is also a speech I never wanted or wished to deliver in this form. Unfortunately, it's reality.
We've had the final here in Munich, and our dream was to reach this final. We achieved that. We've seen a performance from our team which – in terms of desire, commitment and fighting spirit – was okay It was clear the team fundamentally wanted to win this match. If we're to criticise the team at all – and I think there are always two sides to a coin, and we unfortunately have to reflect on the less agreeable side of the coin – we had three match points. We were 1–0 up after 83 minutes. We had a penalty in extra time. And we were in the lead after the third penalty in the shootout – and still we failed to make it…
On the way here, I travelled past hordes of Bayern fans who were leaving the Public Viewing at the Olympic Stadium, and I can only say this: there was unbelievable sadness in the air. The people, the fans were despondent and sad. Our grieving, and probably also the anger we all feel to a certain extent, will probably only really come out when we wake up tomorrow, when we truly realise what a huge chance we’ve spurned this evening. […] We could have won our final at home. […]
I've just seen Franz Beckenbauer on TV, who said: what are the English supposed to do about it? When they eventually go to bed tonight, taking the cup with them, they'll wake up tomorrow and ask themselves: what actually happened here? We've won the cup and not Bayern Munich, who played better football, invested more in the match, and created unbelievable chances [applause]. But unfortunately, we're sitting here empty-handed, and that makes me very sad.
I went through it all in 1999, when we lost so dramatically in Barcelona to goals in the 89th and 92nd minutes. That was unbelievably brutal, but I almost have the impression this evening is somehow even more bitter, brutal and basically also unnecessary. The pain is unbelievable, and looking around the tables now, I have the impression that’s the mood you share.
I'm very sorry for the team who basically had a magnificent Champions League season [applause]. It was our 15th match and the seventh at home, where we won all of them. And we would have been absolutely deserved winners today. But we still have to ask ourselves why we didn't win. That's something which is very hard to understand, for now at least. In these cruel and sad hours, it's very important to remain rational and somehow simply accept that this is what’s happened, difficult as it is. […]
It's late, past two o'clock, everybody will be a little hungry and thirsty. Everyone wants to lick their wounds. Even at this bitter and sad time, I wish you all a pleasant evening and bon appetit."
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