Franz Beckenbauer has laid into Bayern Munich’s defenders and the Brazilian centre-half Dante in particular following what he called “a dark night” at Porto’s Estádio do Dragão.
The injury-weakened German champions went down 3-1 in their quarter-final first leg, leaving their hopes of making the Champions League semi-finals hanging by a thread, and Bayern’s honorary president and most distinguished defender was unsparing in his criticism of the team.
Bayern conceded two early goals to Ricardo Quaresma, the first one a penalty when Manuel Neuer brought down Jackson Martínez, who scored the third in the second half, and Beckenbauer complained: “Well, Dante. He just needs to stop the ball. Were he from Iceland, or from the north pole, then I would say he still had his ski boots on. But like that: ‘terrible’.”
He told Sky: “It doesn’t get any worse. Not seen a single Bayern player who showed his normal form. It was a dark night. When you have a keeper playing badly or a defender playing badly that is not unusual. But in this match they all ‘worked together’ to achieve this result.”
