Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 defeat in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich. With Thibaut Courtois still sidelined, Andriy Lunin started between the posts and, following Antonio Rudiger, became the second 'pupil' of Alvaro Arbeloa to address the media in the mixed zone. The goalkeeper admitted that the German goals stemmed from lapses his side could have avoided, though he remains optimistic ahead of the return fixture, acknowledging the sheer intensity of the world's most demanding competition.

"I believe we certainly could have prevented those goals, but the team's reaction was strong. We pushed forward and we are still very much alive in this tie," he began. When pressed for further detail on the goals conceded, Lunin was brief: "In any situation, you can always do things better. It is as simple as that."

Regarding the second leg in Germany, the shot-stopper offered a message of hope to the 'merengue' faithful, though he expressed regret at not securing an equaliser at Chamartin to level the tie. While Los Blancos created several openings, so too did Vincent Kompany's side.

"Obviously, it would have been better to have scored more; a draw would have put us in a better position. But it is what it is, and we must now turn our focus to the next La Liga match," he added.

"We have time to prepare for a return leg that will be even more complicated, but as I said, we are still in it. It is a Champions League quarter-final; it was never going to be easy, and everyone understands that. We knew there would be moments where we’d have to defend in a deep or mid-low block, and that ball retention would be key to controlling the game. Our objective now is to keep a clean sheet, find the net, and see if we can turn this around."

Andriy Lunin

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