Bayern Munich’s 5-4 win on penalties against RB Leipzig was a special night for all of the Bayern players, but it was extra special for Joshua Kimmich. The DFB-Pokal second round tie at the Red Bull Arena saw the Die Mannschaft star return to his old stomping ground. He last played for Die Roten Bullen two years ago, before he made the move to the record Bundesliga champions in the summer of 2015. DFB.de spoke with the 22-year-old Confederations Cup winner about making it to the last 16 and Bayern’s returning head coach Jupp Heynckes.
DFB.de: Joshua, what’s your take on the win against Leipzig?
Joshua Kimmich: It was an extremely intense game. After Naby Keita picked up his red card in the 54th minute, we took control of the game and managed to create some really good opportunities. Even though they were one man down they still managed to take the lead, so it was great that we showed the character required to equalise almost immediately afterwards. We had numerous chances to put the game away before the 90 minutes were up, but unfortunately we just weren’t clinical enough.
DFB.de: Did you expect RB Leipzig to put up the fight that they did?
Kimmich: Leipzig played really well, but we still should have been a few goals ahead by the end of normal time. All of our penalties in the shootout were from the top drawer in my opinion. Someone has to lose at the end of the day.
DFB.de: There were a few controversial decisions in the game. What was your view of the incident that saw Arturo Vidal bring down Emil Forsberg in the first half? Was it a penalty?
Kimmich: From my point of view, the foul happened outside of the box, but my view of it wasn’t great. The linesman probably had a better view than I did.
DFB.de: This cup win was a great result for your team. How far have FC Bayern come under the renewed leadership of Jupp Heynckes?
Bayern Munich’s 5-4 win on penalties against RB Leipzig was a special night for all of the Bayern players, but it was extra special for Joshua Kimmich. The DFB-Pokal second round tie at the Red Bull Arena saw the Die Mannschaft star return to his old stomping ground. He last played for Die Roten Bullen two years ago, before he made the move to the record Bundesliga champions in the summer of 2015. DFB.de spoke with the 22-year-old Confederations Cup winner about making it to the last 16 and Bayern’s returning head coach Jupp Heynckes.
DFB.de: Joshua, what’s your take on the win against Leipzig?
Joshua Kimmich: It was an extremely intense game. After Naby Keita picked up his red card in the 54th minute, we took control of the game and managed to create some really good opportunities. Even though they were one man down they still managed to take the lead, so it was great that we showed the character required to equalise almost immediately afterwards. We had numerous chances to put the game away before the 90 minutes were up, but unfortunately we just weren’t clinical enough.
DFB.de: Did you expect RB Leipzig to put up the fight that they did?
Kimmich: Leipzig played really well, but we still should have been a few goals ahead by the end of normal time. All of our penalties in the shootout were from the top drawer in my opinion. Someone has to lose at the end of the day.
DFB.de: There were a few controversial decisions in the game. What was your view of the incident that saw Arturo Vidal bring down Emil Forsberg in the first half? Was it a penalty?
Kimmich: From my point of view, the foul happened outside of the box, but my view of it wasn’t great. The linesman probably had a better view than I did.
DFB.de: This cup win was a great result for your team. How far have FC Bayern come under the renewed leadership of Jupp Heynckes?
Kimmich: We’re still missing the consistency that we need. We had about 15 or 30 minutes where we gave the ball away too much and didn’t win any challenges. Leipzig took advantage of that and created some good chances. Other than that they didn’t create very much, whereas we had seven or eight clear cut opportunities. I could even have scored towards the end of the game. Luckily for us, the result ended in our favour despite all of that.
DFB.de: You’re addressing the ups and downs of your side’s performance. Why did Bayern lack consistency?
Kimmich: It’s really hard for the coach. It’s down to us and our schedule is so jam-packed. You can’t do an awful lot in training or study complex strategies if you have a match scheduled every three days. We try to play with the same starting XI to regain some consistency. We have to grow bit by bit. The important thing is that we get the results and work together well as a team. If we do that, then we have the quality to beat any opponents, regardless of who they are.
DFB.de: Goalkeeper Sven Ulreich stopped Timo Werner’s final penalty.
Kimmich: I was extremely delighted for Sven because the attention has been very much focused on him since Manuel Neuer’s injury and he got a lot of slack publically after the Wolfsburg [2-2 draw] and PSG [3-0 loss] matches, even if we saw it differently. He also saved us in the penalty shootout in the Supercup match against Dortmund and now he’s done it again in Leipzig – he’s on fire.
DFB.de: The Bundesliga match against RB Leipzig in the Allianz Arena will take place in just three days. What kind of game are you expecting on Saturday evening?
Kimmich: Something similarly intense – and hopefully we’ll win again.
