Nagelsmann lauds defender De Ligt

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Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann has heaped praise on defender Matthijs de Ligt, who he believes โ€œrescuedโ€ his side to help the Germans qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Bayern won 2-0 on the night to advance 3-0 on aggregate, but the match was in the balance in the first half when De Ligt blocked Vitinhaโ€™s shot and Yann Sommer was caught dribbling in his own penalty area.

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry scored in the second half to earn Bayern a spot in the quarterfinals.

Instead of praising Sommerโ€™s risk-taking, Nagelsmann lauded De Ligtโ€™s intervention, which altered the course of the game.

โ€œYann obviously has a good connection with Matthijs,โ€ Nagelsmann quipped. โ€œNine out of 10 defenders in the world would have left that because they thought it was already in.โ€

โ€œIt was an unbelievable play. He (De Ligt) loves to defend and hates to concede goals,โ€ Nagelsmann added.

โ€œMistakes happen, but thankfully we have a defender who rescued us.โ€

Sommer, who arrived in Munich from Borussia Moenchengladbach in January to replace the injured Bayern captain Manuel Neuer, said: โ€œIt was outstanding how he rescued me.

โ€œIf that went wrong then the game would look different, so we were lucky.โ€

The Switzerland goalkeeper joked that he had a special reward in mind for De Ligt.

โ€œIโ€™ve told him before once or twice that thereโ€™ll be a block of Swiss chocolate sitting on his doorstep for his efforts,โ€ he said.

Photo by EPA/RONALD WITTEK