Del Bosque praises Bayern defence

Vicente del Bosque praised Bayern Munich's defensive display after last night's 2-1 defeat confirmed Real's exit from the Champions League.
Bayern took the lead in only the eighth minute through Giovanne Elber's opener following a corner kick. Although Luis Figo pulled a goal back in the 17th minute, the game was over when Jens Jeremies' low right-footer crept inside the left post making it 2-1 in the 34th minute, and 3-1 on aggregate.

The Real coach said afterwards: "We tried everything and with the score at 1-1, we really believed that we could start to take control of the game.

"However, Jeremies' goal killed us off midway through the first half. We're happy to have reached the semi-final and we have dominated Bayern in both games. But Bayern are a very good, strong side who have won the tie with their magnificent defensive strategies."

Del Bosque raised eyebrows for his last minute decision not to field striker Fernando Morientes, but afterwards explained: "It's important to play a coherent side and a game of this calibre would just have been too much for him at the moment. We brought him on when we thought the time was right."