Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Florian Neuhaus walked away from Wednesday's 2-0 defeat against Manchester City wishing his side hadn't wilted so easily under the pressure of a record-setting opponent.
Monchengladbach were pinned within their own half most of the game, and when they did win possession their lack of composure on the ball led to repeated giveaways. It was not the display one would expect from a last-16 Champions League team.
Neuhaus wasn't alone in his thinking about the performance, as manager Marco Rose and team-mate Lars Stindl offered similarly critical assessments after the defeat.
What did Neuhaus say?
“We wanted to be courageous with our limited chances and I felt we did that well at times," Neuhaus told DAZN.
"City played with a very high line and if we’d been better with the final ball in behind, there might have been more in it for us. We have to be braver in the second leg.
“Manchester City were really good in possession, which meant we did a lot of running tonight. We had the odd chance in transition here and there but didn’t execute them cleanly.”
How did others respond to the defeat?
"Especially in the first half my players sometimes forgot about how we wanted to attack, because we were busy with defending," Rose said.
"It was a little better after the break, but we were not accurate enough.
"In the end, that is simply a top team. Against that team in a shape like that you must be perfect and every pass must fit."
Stindl added: "In possession we weren’t brave enough, made too many basic mistakes and our only half-chances came right at the end. “We ran a lot, as we knew we’d have to, but we have to admit we deserved to lose."
Further reading
- Classy Cancelo rips through Gladbach
- The stats behind Man City's winning streak
- Liverpool-linked Neuhaus: 'I can't say what will happen'
