Thomas Muller acknowledged Bayern Munich needed some good fortune to overcome Paris Saint-Germain and reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Julian Nagelsmann's side were indebted to Matthijs de Ligt's goal-line clearance from Vitinha in the first half at Allianz Arena after Yann Sommer's error offered the PSG midfielder an open goal.
De Ligt subsequently hooked off the line, keeping Bayern 1-0 ahead in the tie after Kingsley Coman's first-leg strike, before Nagelsmann's men seized control of the return meeting.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting came back to haunt his former side PSG with a second-half strike before Serge Gnabry sealed progression, though Muller was thankful for the fine margins fell for Bayern.
"You have to be honest, in a football game like this there are always moments when you need luck on your side," Muller told DAZN.
"We had that one moment when Yann loses the ball, which Matt clears the ball on the line. If it goes to 1-0 there, you don't know how the teams will react to that.
"But we shed our shyness in the second half in particular, we were clearer in defence, so we played the better game in the second half and deserved to win."
A 3-0 aggregate triumph saw Bayern progress to the Champions League quarter-finals for the 21st time, no other club has managed to reach the last eight as often.
A battling performance, coupled with clinical finishing, marked continued progression under Nagelsmann, whose side have put a poor start to 2023 behind them to fight back in the Bundesliga title race.
Nagelsmann was disappointed with what he saw in the first half as PSG twice went close to levelling the tie on aggregate, but the Bayern coach was impressed with his team's second-half response.
"In the first half we did what we discussed before the game wrong, PSG pulled a lot of players into the build-up, we then let ourselves be pulled into position, were too impatient," he told DAZN.
"The spaces were too big. We had a lot of space with the ball, but we were too scared.
"We didn't do that anymore in the second half, we won the ball well and gained a lot of depth down the right. We were clearly better in the second half and deserved to win."
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win
Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.
Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.
With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.
Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.
Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.
Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home
Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.
Kompany urges Bayern to cut out errors against Freiburg
Vincent Kompany has urged Bayern Munich to stop making mistakes ahead of their Bundesliga match against Freiburg at home on Sunday.
Bayern narrowly secured a 3-2 victory against Wolfsburg last time out, courtesy of a late goal from Serge Gnabry, after conceding twice early in the second half.
"We observe everything, delve into details to find solutions and strive to create a perfect picture. We performed very well in the first half against Wolfsburg but lost momentum just after half-time," Kompany told reporters on Friday.
"Such lapses often occur due to mistakes. However, we fought back and persevered. The mentality was commendable. We need to address these issues as a team."
Freiburg claimed an impressive 3-1 win against last season's runners-up, Stuttgart, in their first match and Kompany acknowledged that Sunday would pose a different challenge.
"It's a difficult game for us but our objective at home at the Allianz Arena is always clear," Kompany said.
Despite injuries to defensive players, including Hiroki Ito and Josip Stanisic, who are out for the start of the season, Kompany was unconcerned about the overall squad situation.
"We're close to having everyone available. I don't want to exert too much pressure. We don't have many worries. I hope we’ll have everyone fit soon," he said.
Kompany said he was excited about the new-format Champions League after Bayern found out their fate in the competition in Thursday's draw, with Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona among their adversaries.
"It feels new and exciting. I'm looking forward to it because it'll be different. You have eight opponents in very different situations. Previously, it was often clear who would advance after four games," Kompany said.
"I’m excited about the fixtures. An away game in Rotterdam is always nice; playing at home against Paris and away in Barcelona. The key is to keep the players fit, then we can relish the games."
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