Jerome Boateng says Bayern Munich has to improve for Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal, first-leg, at Barcelona or not bother travelling to Spain following their “careless” German Cup exit.
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Bayern’s dreams of repeating their 2013 treble of European, league and cup titles this season were ended when they were knocked out of the German Cup semi-finals on Tuesday by Borussia Dortmund on penalties.
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The defeat came just two days after winning the Bundesliga title.
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Having taken a first-half lead through Robert Lewandowski, Bayern dominated until the 70th minute when Dortmund brought on attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
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The visitors created a string of chances leading to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s late equaliser which took the game to extra-time and Bayern failed to convert any of their four spot-kicks in the shoot-out.
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Boateng said they can ill afford anything less than a top performance at the Camp Nou against the Spanish league leaders, with the return leg on May 12.
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“Barcelona are one of the best teams in the world and we’ll need a top performance,” Boateng told football magazine Kicker.
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“If we play like we did after the 70th minute against Dortmund, then there is no need for us to even go to Barcelona.
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“Dortmund came back into the game and we gifted them the chance to play in the final.
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“How many chances did they have up until 1-1? None.
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“We are too careless. We have to defend and attack again as a team. We make too many mistakes when we take the lead.
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“We give the ball away too quickly, play too many long balls and are too lax.
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“We had a big chance against Dortmund and I am bitter about how things worked out as it didn’t have to be that way.”
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The loss to Dortmund was only Bayern’s fifth defeat in 45 games this season.
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