Hummels: Yes. There is always a way through any team, even when they press high up like Leipzig did. With good analysis, you can turn your weaknesses into strengths. I saw Leipzig a few times in the early season, like when they played Hoffenheim – they were on a very high level from the first matchday. However much people deny it, they have been something no one expected, but they are certainly an enjoyable team to watch.
Question: How can you undo Leipzig?
Hummels: With teams that push you high up the pitch, you have to look to play beyond the first line of their press and create from there. If we can do it, I believe we have a good chance.
Question: So Bayern need the outside-of-the-boot passes from Mats Hummels?
Hummels: No, more than that we need the right passes through midfield. If the ball falls to me like that, I will play that ball, but there have not been so many chances for that this season.
Question: What do you say to the possibility that Bayern will be bringing in two national team players at Hoffenheim in Niklas Süle and Sebastian Rudy?
Hummels: I know them from the national team. Both are excellent players, but I do not know if anything is done. I can only speak when something is announced. Having more German speakers will not go amiss, though.
Bundesliga champions FC Bayern Munich reclaimed top spot in the table a 1-0 win over SV Darmstadt 98. The victory put them level on points with RB Leipzig, ahead on goal difference ahead of the clash between the two on Wednesday. Ahead of the game, World Champion Mats Hummels discussed the challenge posed by the promoted side and Douglas Costa’s spectacular winner in Darmstadt.
Question: Mr. Hummels, why was the match against Darmstadt such a struggle for your side?
Mats Hummels: It is always difficult here. No team gets the win here playing aesthetically-pleasing football. In Darmstadt, you generally have to be patient, work steadily through the game in order to find a way through them. In the end we had a bit of fortune with Douglas Costa getting a goal from maybe 30 yards out. Costa’s individual class decided the game for us.
Question: Why did the state of the pitch play such a significant role?
Hummels: In the first half we found it difficult to put secure passing play together and get ourselves to a good tempo. The pitch meant that was not possibly for long stretches, but that was the situation with which we had to deal. I do not feel as though we were overcome by it.
Question: Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was certainly critical of the speed of the game and the low level of pass accuracy.
Hummels: It always looks easier from the back than it really is in play. Manuel is partly right, though, of course. Still, when I am at looking out at the game, I always think “that should be working, that should be better!” In play, you have to be even more concentrated and play even more to receive the ball, because you have to be even surer that it will not take an uneven turn. That is why you do not always shave the clearest view of your next passing option and it takes that extra fragment of a second to make decisions, which slows the whole process down. It has a bearing, that much cannot be denied, and it does make things more difficult than on a cleaner surface.
Question: The eyes of everyone in German football will be on Bayern’s match against Leipzig on Wednesday night, as first meet second. Are Bayern ready?
Hummels: Yes, of course. I am really looking forward to the game. We are expecting a very difficult game, and we will have to be prepared to be completely assured in possession close to our own goal. I think Leipzig will play as they often have: not quite pressing extremely high, but being very aggressive within 15 metres of our own half. For us, that means we have to move a lot without the ball and try to catch Leipzig out with the space that creates, then we can really see what the game has in store for us. I think it will be an intense and very tough task. We will need a very good performance. I do not think that a solid showing will be enough. We will have to be strong right across the board,
Question: Do you anticipate Leipzig playing with the same boldness at the Allianz Arena as they have done previously?
Hummels: Yes, certainly. Ralph Hasenhüttl [Leipzig coach] played here with Ingolstadt last season and they came very close to getting the points. Leipzig will not change their ways and will continue to push us right across the pitch, of that I am 100 percent sure.
Question: Can Bayern really set the pace with a win just before the winter break?
Hummels: Leipzig play excellent football. We want the direct battle to put us clearly ahead, at least for the winter break, even though it has not always been so in that time. We will only be pleased if we can get the three points.
Question: How important is it for you to end the calendar year as league leaders?
Hummels: Very important!
Question:Has there been a lot of video-based preparation for the Leipzig game?
Hummels: Yes. There is always a way through any team, even when they press high up like Leipzig did. With good analysis, you can turn your weaknesses into strengths. I saw Leipzig a few times in the early season, like when they played Hoffenheim – they were on a very high level from the first matchday. However much people deny it, they have been something no one expected, but they are certainly an enjoyable team to watch.
Question: How can you undo Leipzig?
Hummels: With teams that push you high up the pitch, you have to look to play beyond the first line of their press and create from there. If we can do it, I believe we have a good chance.
Question: So Bayern need the outside-of-the-boot passes from Mats Hummels?
Hummels: No, more than that we need the right passes through midfield. If the ball falls to me like that, I will play that ball, but there have not been so many chances for that this season.
Question: What do you say to the possibility that Bayern will be bringing in two national team players at Hoffenheim in Niklas Süle and Sebastian Rudy?
Hummels: I know them from the national team. Both are excellent players, but I do not know if anything is done. I can only speak when something is announced. Having more German speakers will not go amiss, though.
