Error or no error?
Manuel Neuer contradicts criticism: “Try my best”
January 15, 2026 – 10:18 amReading time: 1 min.
In Cologne, Manuel Neuer conceded a goal in the first half. Some say he could have prevented that. He couldn’t have prevented that, says Manuel Neuer.
A little more than 40 minutes had been played when the ball hit. A powerful shot from 16 meters at 107 km/h from Cologne’s Linton Maina landed in the Bayern net.
Neuer tried to stop the ball, put his hands on the ball, but he couldn’t prevent the hit. Neuer reacted disappointedly. Lying on the ground, he buried his face between his arms as the ball was in the net behind him. Some observers saw this as a mistake by Neuer. But not himself. “It wasn’t that short (the distance, editor’s note). Very central, he can shoot anywhere. I try to do my best. And then it’s 1-0 for FC.”
Despite the deficit, FC Bayern Munich managed to turn the game around and celebrate the best first half of the season in Bundesliga history with a 3-1 win. The Munich sports director Max Eberl showed understanding for Neuer: From such a distance it could always happen “that the hand doesn’t get behind it with all its strength and then it looks like this. No blame from me.”