Götze: "I'm happy for Holger and Ilkay"

It was the first home defeat of the season. After the 2-0 defeat against Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Bayern München’s Mario Götze spoke with DFB.de about the quality of Manuel Neuer, Arjen Robben’s injury and the return of Holger Badstuber and Ilkay Gündogan to the national team.

Question: Mr Götze, is this defeat even that bad considering FC Bayern still have a ten point lead over Wolfsburg?

Mario Götze: It was tough when you see how the game played out. We were on a fantastic run at home. I don’t remember the last time we lost here.

Question: The team have been without Arjen Robben for the last week (abdominal injury). Because of that do you feel you need to up your game in his absence?

Götze: That’s also a real shame. I wish Arjen all the best for his recovery and hope it goes quickly. Now we have the international break and then we play in Dortmund. We’re still in a great position, but we have to up our game after a defeat like that.

Question: What needs to improve then?

Götze: We didn’t actually play badly against Gladbach. They defended very deep and countered well. That’s a good quality. We just need to be more penetrative in attack and then try and score more when we have so much possession, particularly down the wings. We didn’t do that well against Borussia.

Question: Why did your team struggle to create chances?

Götze: If our opponent had pushed forward a bit more it would have been a lot easier for us.

Question: Do you feel sorry for Manuel Neuer, who so often has little to do in games, because of the first goal?

Götze: Of course. I think there were a number of mistakes before that though. These things happen now and then. When a goalkeeper has very little to do, game after game, and then all of a sudden has to be fully alert for 90 minutes, of course it’s going to be difficult.

Question: Is Neuer able to move on quickly?

Götze: Of course. I don’t think it’s necessary to talk about the qualities of Manuel Neuer.

Question: Has the defeat affected the team’s confidence at all?

Götze:Of course we have to analyse what we did wrong. Gladbach have great qualities, you can see that from their performance. They deserve to be in the position they are in. But we wanted to do better, we wanted to win at home and that didn’t happen. We need to perform better in two weeks.

Question: Are you looking forward to the game in Dortmund?

Götze: Of course. But first I’m looking forward to the international games and then I’ll think about Dortmund in two weeks. Naturally it’s a particularly special occasion for me.

Question: What are your expectations going into the international break?

Götze: We have a friendly against Australia on Wednesday and a European Championship qualifier in Georgia on Sunday. We absolutely must win the qualifier and do our best in the other.

Question: What are your thoughts on the long awaited return of Ilkay Gündogan and Holger Badstuber?

Götze: I’m pleased for them both. I don’t know how long they have been out for. It’s great for the lads and they have deserved it. We’re excited and we’ll have a good time.