Football
PA Sport 8y

Pep Guardiola hails Bayern Munich stay as 'great experience' upon exit

Pep Guardiola revealed he would miss his players more than anything else after bringing the curtain down on three years as coach of Bayern Munich by winning the DFB-Pokal.

The Bayern coach saw his side beat Borussia Dortmund on penalties after a goalless final in Berlin, earning him his seventh trophy with the Bavarians.

However, he said the titles did not mean as much to him as the relationship he had built with Bayern's players.

"Titles are just numbers," he said. "In terms of titles, then yes it's been good.

"It's been a great experience to work with this club every day, but above all with these players.

"I'll miss them. I worked every day with them -- 24 hours a day with these players.

"I was always thinking how to make them better and better and yes, I will miss them."

Guardiola hands over the Bayern reins to Carlo Ancelotti next season and he warned the Italian that only the best will do at the German champions, after leaving him some rather large shoes to fit into.

"I know this cup makes the Bayern fans happy, but tomorrow and then the day after tomorrow, it's back to normal again and Bayern have to go on winning," said the Catalan.

"I wish Bayern the best for the future. I'm delighted to finish in this way. Who knows if I will come back (to coach in Germany)."

Guardiola encouraged his Dortmund counterpart Thomas Tuchel after Douglas Costa scored the winning penalty for his side, appearing to tell him that his moment to win trophies will come.

That could have started on Saturday night, though, with Tuchel taking the blame for his side's defeat.

"I got the order of penalties wrong, it's all my fault," he told Germany's ARD television. "I'm so annoyed with myself for this.

"We've got to look at it all again. I think we've got room for improvement.

"We fell so far short of what we had intended to do tonight.

"I'm not so happy with the first half, and that set the tone for the second half and it continued into extra-time.

"We can do better. It's an art, of course, to get yourself in the zone, and we didn't do that."

Defeat leaves Dortmund still waiting for their first trophy since 2012, when they beat Bayern 5-2 in the DFB-Pokal final to complete a league and cup double of their own.

Since then, only Wolfsburg - in last season's DFB-Pokal final - have managed to get their names instead of Bayern's on a German trophy, while Dortmund have now lost three straight domestic cup finals.

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