Following Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson‘s postgame remarks, Bayern Munich head coach Louis van Gaal hitback. Ferguson termed Bayern players “typical Germans” for getting young Brazilian Rafael sent off and described Bayern as lucky, insisting that United wouldhave qualified with 11 men.
“I thought England was noted for fairness,” said Van Gaal. “I have been confronted with three comments. It is not what I call fair play. I do not share SirAlex’s opinion. Control is part of being a professional footballer, every player must know his job. If you pick up one yellow card, a second means a sending-off. Every player should know thatand it was a yellow card offense. It was the player who made the foul. As for United winning with 11, we will never know that, neither Sir Alex nor me, because this game will not be played again. Itis easy to say these things after a loss.”
Van Gaal also praised his team’s second-half performance. “It’s incredible what we did in the second half,” the Dutchman said. “We playedfantastically. It’s not always easy to play against ten men. We played like a great team.”