Neuer: We were thrown by Messi's first goal
Jerome Boateng felt Bayern Munich "threw the game away" as Barcelona overpowered them 3-0 on Wednesday night to put one foot in the UEFA Champions League final. The 26-year-old was embarrassingly left on the floor when the outstanding Lionel Messi scored the Catalans' second goal at Camp Nou, and the Germany defender soon became the subject of ridicule on social media.
However, Boateng insisted Bayern were comfortable until Dani Alves robbed Juan Bernat 13 minutes from time and set up Messi to unleash a left-footed drive past Manuel Neuer.
"We played well for 70 minutes," Boateng said. "You didn't have the feeling it might go wrong at the back, but then we made a mistake.
"Obviously I'm angry that we folded after that and threw the game away. We need team unity now. Our target must be to win in Munich."
"Obviously the individual class of a player like Lionel Messi is unique. I think we were a little thrown by the first goal."
Manuel Neuer
Thomas Muller was substituted after Messi's opener, and appeared to argue with Bayern coach Pep Guardiola as he took his place in the dug-out. And the Germany attacker admitted Bayern are unlikely to repeat their quarter-final comeback against Porto last month, when the Bundesliga champions trailed 3-1, in the second leg at the Allianz Arena next Tuesday.
"We defended well for a long time," Muller said. "Out on the pitch, I had the feeling we were in control in the second half and maybe even held the initiative to a certain extent, but we were our own worst enemies.
"We have to pull together as a team now. We're FC Bayern and our heads stay up. We can't expect the return to go the way it did against Porto, but the 11 out on the field will give it everything through to the end."
Skipper Philipp Lahm said Bayern's late capitulation, which was capped by Neymar catching them on the break in stoppage time to slip the ball past Neuer, was unforgivable.
"We were caught on the break three times," he rued. "It leaves a very, very bitter taste.
"We worked hard, we had one huge chance, and we kept it an open contest for a long time. But we made fatal errors that led to goals. We made it too easy for Barcelona, we gave away possession and gave them the chance to counter-attack. That can't be happening, especially away from home. You can go a goal down, but it mustn't end in a 3-0 defeat."
Neuer added: "We did very well for a long time, but we laid on their opening goal for them. We had men over on the left and could have broken at speed, but we offered Barça the ball on a plate.
"Obviously the individual class of a player like Lionel Messi is unique. I think we were a little thrown by the first goal but our glimmer of hope is the game against Porto."