Champions League
“Chapeau”: Bayern celebrate advancement “in the toughest group”
Bayern stand in front of the fan block after the game. photo
© Peter Kneffel/dpa
After the 4:2 in Pilsen, Bayern have already reached their first goal in Europe – and in a group with Barcelona and Inter Milan. But now the focus is on the Bundesliga.
Everyone at FC Bayern Munich was very proud of the fact that the first milestone in the premium Champions League competition was reached in such a short space of time. Four games, four wins, 13:2 goals – in contrast to the mysterious weakness in everyday life in the Bundesliga, the German serial champions regularly call up their potential in Europe’s top football league.
“It is not a matter of course to play games in the Champions League with so many goals and such a dominance. It’s great to get through after four games,” said captain Thomas Müller after the 4-2 win at Viktoria Pilsen, in which Bayern went into the played great again in the first 45 minutes. “Chapeau!” Said Müller about the fixed round of 16.
“We’re happy that we’re through in such a brutally difficult group. We can really be happy about that as a team,” emphasized Sven Ulreich, who represented the injured Manuel Neuer well in goal. Coach Julian Nagelsmann paid his team “a big compliment”. “We got twelve points from four games in the toughest group, are in the round of 16 and want to be first,” he said, referring to the well-known group competitors Inter Milan and FC Barcelona, who is about to end with world footballer Robert Lewandowski and probably will be relegated to the Europa League. In two weeks, Bayern can seal Barça’s end in a direct duel at the Camp Nou.
Nagelsmann focuses on the Bundesliga
In Pilsen’s tiny Doosan Arena, Bayern trumped for 45 minutes, celebrating four squeaky-clean goals from Sadio Mané, Müller and Leon Goretzka, who scored twice for the first time in the Champions League. The careless second half with what goalkeeper Ulreich called “unnecessary goals” was generally classified as a blemish.
Nagelsmann immediately looked ahead in the Czech night. “Now the preparations for Freiburg are going very straight forward so that we can head in the right direction again in the Bundesliga,” said the coach, looking ahead to the top game this Sunday. The personnel situation should relax by then, and Müller, who was substituted early, should then be fit again. “Old back,” said the 33-year-old about the muscular problems that suddenly handicapped him on Wednesday evening. “It’s nothing bad from my point of view,” said Müller. The strong foreman Goretzka sounded after the “good step” in Pilsen: “Now we want to play ourselves into a frenzy game by game.”