Tuesday, 23rd October, 2012
Bayern Munich striker Thomas Muller has explained how he is desperate to make up for the heartbreak of losing in the final of last season’s Champions League against Chelsea.
The game, which was played at Bayern Munich’s home Allianz Arena ground, saw Muller hand the German giants the lead in the 83rd minute in what was quickly seen as sure to be the winning goal, having come so late in the match.
But in the 88th minute, up popped Chelsea’s Didier Drogba to level the scores and send the match into extra time.
That could not separate the sides and penalties saw Ivica Olic and Bastian Schweinsteiger both miss from the spot, helping Chelsea to a famous 4-3 victory; Muller, who did not take a spot kick having been brought off for defender Daniel Van Buyten in the 87th minute, could only look on.
And the Germany international still feels the pain.
"If you look at the images after we scored the goal, then the whole team and even the whole of Munich exploded, and you could see in everybody’s faces how big the relief was after we took the lead", he told UEFA.com.
relatedNewsStory"What happened then is pretty difficult to put into words. It seemed we had achieved something enormous, and suddenly it was gone. Then you find yourself in a deep hole", he added.
But Muller is determined not to wallow in the pain of defeat and has vowed to look to the future, trying to earn new victories to banish the bad memories of the 2012 final.
"We live for the future.
"Everything that happened in the past can’t be changed anyway.
"We played a great season except for that last step, and we were missing the bit of luck that you need in a Champions League final. I won’t look back on the season with a smile, but you have to look ahead, focus on the next objectives."
The Bavarians suffered a blow in their last Champions League match, going down 3-1 to BATE Borisov. This evening they travel to Lille in a bid to bounce straight back.
