Bayern Munich legend Franz Beckenbauer has claimed that mistakes in the transfer market contributed towards their 3-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Neymar added to a Lionel Messi brace to put the La Liga leaders in the driving seat ahead of the second leg of their semi-final clash, and Beckenbauer pinpointed a lack of firepower for the German side as a weakness.
The German told reporters: "I think mistakes were made. I did not understand why they sold Xherdan Shaqiri and Pierre Hojbjerg.
"They were great substitutes and they were missing [in the second half of the season]. Of course you cannot expect to get as many injuries as we have. And some players were also out for a longer period of time than expected.
"Bayern were lucky that Thiago Alcantara and Javi Martinez returned. But we still did not have our full firepower, and you need it when you play in the Champions League semi-finals against Barcelona. They were punished [for their transfers]."
Bayern's poor run continued with a 1-0 reverse to Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Paul Gorst
