Puel: Bayern deserved to go to the final

(GSM) – Olympique Lyon boss Claude Puel conceded that his side had fallen to a stronger team after they were beaten 3-0 by an excellent Bayern München who reached the UEFA Champions League final 4-0 on aggregrate.

“You simply have to congratulate their team, which was fantastic in lots of areas,” he said after the match. “Their physicality, the quality of their play, their control of possession. They are a complete team. They are physically strong and never let their rhythm drop.

“It became very, very difficult for us. We had to produce a perfect match and it wasn’t the case. We have to admit that tonight, Bayern were better.”

Puel had urged his side to take the game to Bayern ahead of the match and he was left to lament the poor finishing that saw Les Gones spurn the few opportunities that came their way. “We tried to take the game to them, to press them high and recover the ball so that we could put them under pressure,” he said.

“The chances we did make we wasted because we wanted to finish things too quickly. We could have been more composed. It’s a shame about the scoreline. It was a heavy defeat, largely because of what happened after Cris was sent off.”