Match winner Milner lauds City character

James Milner said Manchester City FC showed "great character" to come from two goals down and win away to UEFA Champions League holders FC Bayern München. The England midfielder, who earned his side a second-half penalty before scoring the clincher himself, told UEFA.com the result was "massive" in terms of gaining confidence for the knockout stage. Meanwhile, Thomas Müller said Bayern "showed they were still human" as the Group D victors' record ten-match winning streak in the competition came to an end.

James Milner, Manchester City midfielder
We made it difficult for ourselves. Obviously we did not start well. They were sloppy goals to give away and it is not the ideal start when you are up against one of the best teams in the world. Still, it shows the character we have in the dressing room to come back from two down and win against a very good team. It is a massive result for us going forward. We are going to come up against another top team like Bayern in the next round so the confidence we have gained will obviously go a long way.

It is nice because there is a lot of competition for places in the squad, so when you get your chance you want to get out there and perform. It is pleasing to be involved and to be creating. I enjoyed it on the left-hand side. It makes it a bit easier for me to come in and get my shots away. We will take it a game at a time. Obviously we are going to get a tough draw, finishing second, but the fact we can come to Bayern München and win says a lot about the quality in the squad.

Pablo Zabaleta, Manchester City defender
Personally I am very happy because it is not easy to get a win here. Well done to the boys for an incredible performance. It was a difficult start. We conceded two goals but then came back strongly and won in the end. It is time to enjoy the win. I think we showed great spirit. We said ahead of the game that it was important to do a job tonight. We played badly against Bayern at home and it was important to show another side to our game.

We knew it would be important to be solid at the back because they move the ball very quickly, but we did well defensively and we have some great players in attack who can always score goals. James Milner's finish was fantastic and I am really happy for him because he is a great player and a great lad who always works hard for the team.

Thomas Müller, Bayern midfielder
I think we showed our human side today. We were too careless at times. It was not as if we gave away chance after chance, but we did not look good on any of the goals we conceded. It is no secret that City are always good for a goal, but we got off to a great start and put them under a lot of pressure. After that we took our foot off the pedal. We need to get that winning mentality into our heads. Maybe it is understandable that we got a bit complacent after so many wins but we are professionals, so that kind of thing is not acceptable.

Manuel Neuer, Bayern goalkeeper
We made a lot of unforced errors. We could have done better on all the goals we conceded. Unfortunately we lost our hold on the game and we have only got ourselves to blame. Still, it was not the worst defeat ever. It would have been a lot worse if we had conceded a fourth [and relinquished top spot in the group].

Toni Kroos, Bayern midfielder
I think it is obvious that we were not able to keep our tempo from the first 25 minutes over the full 90. We went into the game full of motivation and were determined to win even though we were already through. Unfortunately we did not work as well as we did at the start, which obviously is not good enough. We let it slip. It is not as though we need a kick up the backside. We know we have to put the maximum into every match.