After proclaiming they were the 'better side' over the two semi-final legs, the German lavished praise on his charges, stating their performance was a throwback to a bygone era, despite the 4-3 aggregate defeat.
"I told the boys just now that I have not seen Bayern like tonight in the past few years," he said after the game. "But at this high level, you cannot make the mistakes we made in the first game and tonight after the break. Then you don't have to wonder why you are leaving the pitch as the defeated team.
"When you score twice against real at the Bernabeu it means something, but Navas was outstanding."
After praising the opposition stopper, the veteran tactician stopped short of laying the blame on his own goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, after an error in judgement from a poor backpass, gifted Karim Benzema a second goal on the night.
"Ulreich got confused, had a little black-out," he said. "He didn't know if he could pick it up, realised he couldn't, got nervous and that's what happened. It's a terrible thing for a player to live through."