Mario Götze was deeply disappointed after missing the Champions League group stage with PSV Eindhoven.

“We worked on it for a year, tried everything.

When you see how much possession we had in the two games, that's bitter, "said the 2014 World Cup scorer on Amazon after the 0-0 playoff second leg against Benfica Lisbon:" The disappointment is huge. "

The hosts played after the yellow-red card against Lucas Verissimo (32nd minute) for almost an hour in excess.

“Sometimes football is easy.

We didn't manage to score one more goal.

But Benfica also defended that well.

I think we had three or four great chances.

But we should have created more chances, ”said German PSV coach Roger Schmidt.

"The heart is bleeding"

The team lost the first leg 1: 2.

"In the end it was a little bit efficiency, when you see how we played there and here," said Götze.

A dream burst for national player Philipp Max.

“The heart is bleeding.

My dream was of course to play the Champions League, "said Max." But we would have deserved it over both games. "

This Thursday, the group stage of the Champions League will be drawn in Istanbul.

FC Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund and VfL Wolfsburg have qualified from the Bundesliga.

Bayern are in pot one together with the five other champions of the six strongest leagues in the European Football Union as well as the defending champions of the premier class and the Europa League.

BVB is sorted into pot two, the decisive factor is the club coefficient for the 2020/21 season, which means that Dortmund does just a little better than FC Porto.

The exact division of pots three and four will only be determined after the playoffs on this Wednesday evening - RB Leipzig will certainly end up in pot three and VfL Wolfsburg in pot 4fier.

Teams from the same countries cannot meet in the preliminary round.

For Götze and PSV it is now in the Europa League instead of the premier class.

“I would have loved to play the Champions League with my team.

The Europa League is also a fun competition, "said Schmidt and added, referring to the lost income:" I don't care about these 15 million. "Instead, the former Dortmund player Julian Weigl is now allowed to play in the premier class with Benfica.

Corona before the Europa League playoffs

Two days before the second leg in the playoffs for this particular competition, several Glasgow Rangers players have tested positive for the corona virus.

The Scottish champion announced this on Tuesday on his homepage.

The number and names of the professionals concerned were not disclosed.

All those who tested positive are now in self-isolation together with close contacts.

On Thursday, the team of English coach Steven Gerrard will take on the playoff second leg at Alashkert Yerevan in Armenia.

Glasgow won the first leg 1-0.

“Since the pandemic began, the Rangers have worked closely with the Scottish Government and Scottish Football to ensure that the health of our employees is protected at all times.

We will continue to do so, ”said the club.