Joshua Kimmich cheered towards the opposing fans after FC Bayern’s win at SC Freiburg. Freiburg professionals spoke of a provocation, Kimmich justified himself.
Midfielder Nicolas Höfler from SC Freiburg has no understanding for the emotional jubilation of Joshua Kimmich from FC Bayern Munich. “He should be happy about the three points and not provoke the opposing fans”, said Höfler after his team’s 1-0 defeat. Four days earlier, Freiburg had reached the semi-finals of the DFB Cup in Munich with a 2-1 win.
After the final whistle, Joshua Kimmich demonstratively showed the Freiburg fans his fist and triggered an emotional aftermath. The SC players stormed towards the Bayern Munich captain, and a pack quickly formed on the field – with shoving and shouting.
“Maybe because they rarely lose”
SC centre-back Matthias Ginter said: “He cheered in front of our fans and provoked them a bit. But I don’t know why and why he did it. In the end, it’s just emotions and we didn’t celebrate in front of the Bayern fans on Tuesday. That’s it then just like that.”
Freiburg coach Christian Streich didn’t want to overrate the scene, but he didn’t find the action appropriate either. “That probably had something to do with the fact that we beat Bayern on Tuesday. Nobody expected that.”said Streich on “Sky”. “Perhaps the pressure was so great that he did it. (…) We didn’t run into the Bayern curve after our win, if I remember correctly. But maybe it will be again with Bayern something else because they rarely lose.”
Support from Tuchel and Sommer
Kimmich justified his celebration after the game. “When we warmed up, there was a ten-minute film about the quarterfinals, how we got kicked out.”said the 28-year-old in an interview with “Sport1”. “Of course it goes deep, it hurts too. You’re right, you won. On the other hand, it was a certain provocation. In the end I let myself be carried away. You don’t do that normally.”
Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel defended Kimmich on the other hand. “In the end that’s part of it”said the coach. “Of course we won’t get back the cup win by winning today, but we were all angry about losing. Something like that can happen, the game was super close.”
FCB goalkeeper Yann Sommer also jumped to the side of his team-mate. “There was a pack formation and emotions are part of this game”said the Swiss. “We put in a lot of effort. The opponent made life difficult for us. Emotions run high in the end when you narrowly win the game.”