Bayern’s comeback against Bremen this weekend has given the team an added confidence boost ahead of their Champions League semi-final second leg at home against Real Madrid on Tuesday (live on ZDF and Sky from 20:45 CET). After his side’s 5-2 win over Werder, Munich captain Philipp Lahm spoke to DFB.de about Ribery, Real Madrid and how to defend counterattacks more effectively.
DFB.de: Philipp Lahm, you posted a clear win against Werder after a wobble in the first half. How significant was that first 45 minutes in light of Tuesday’s decisive game with Real?
Philipp Lahm: What’s important is that we go home feeling positive, and we can certainly do that. The second half was solid: we were able to turn the match around, then won convincingly. Real on Tuesday will be a different game entirely.
DFB.de: Franck Ribery looked much improved against Bremen after some uneven performances recently. What’s your view on him right now?
Lahm: I train with Franck every day and he really does make a remarkable impact. I’m not worried about him. He’s an exceptional footballer who can decide the entire course of a match. It’s normal for a player to have a couple of weeks, months or even years in which they don’t play at the same exceptional level as they have before – we’ve all been there at some point. I’m certain Franck will have another excellent game on Tuesday and will help get us into the final.
DFB.de: You were on the bench for the first half against Bremen. How did the two goals Bayern conceded look from the outside?
Lahm: We’ll analyse the mistakes we made. Goals are always scored when someone makes a mistake, and we saw that again against Bremen. Otherwise we let very little through. We’ll take a look at it and analyse what happened.
DFB.de: Do you need to look at the team’s concentration going into games like that?
Lahm: Yes, and not just with the goals we conceded but elsewhere too. Some situations were definitely a matter of concentration, but that’s normal too. We can’t allow it to happen against Real.
DFB.de: How will Bayern want and have to play after losing the first leg 1-0 to Real?
Lahm: At full throttle, of course. We always play for the win: we did it in Madrid and we’ll do it again on Tuesday with passion and heart. I’m very confident that if we do that, we can reach the final.
DFB.de: What must Bayern improve in order to cope with Real?
Lahm: We conceded the two goals against Bremen too easily, so we need to play with greater focus. We know we need to keep the ball, stay organised and give Real as few chances as possible. We’ve got to be more purposeful; we didn’t do that so well in the first leg. We’ve also got to be more consistent with our final ball.
DFB.de: Recently there has been speculation that long-range shots are forbidden at Bayern. Does your coach, Pep Guardiola, have a rule about this?
Lahm: Yeah, we mustn’t take them. (laughs) Seriously though, there’s no rule that we can’t shoot from distance. The coach would shoot from 40 metres himself if he knew they’d all go in the top corner, and missing shots means we don’t give our opponents the opportunity to counterattack.
DFB.de: Apart from missing shots, how else do you plan to control Real’s counterattacking strengths with lightning-fast players like Gareth Bale or Cristiano Ronaldo?
Lahm: It doesn’t change much for us; we’ll keep pushing forward. Even in Madrid we pushed forward and had to adjust for the counterattack. Almost all teams play that way against us in the Bundesliga.
DFB.de: Your team always defends very high up the pitch: even against Bremen that was the case. Are there opportunities to defend a little deeper to give your opponents less space to counterattack?
Lahm: That’s not for me to decide, but I’m glad we play the way we do. It’s just satisfying to play with total control. Okay, sometimes we concede goals on the counterattack, but I don’t see any problems with our set-up.
DFB.de: Are you looking forward to playing against Cristiano Ronaldo?
Lahm: I’m not sure we’ll come up against each other much.
DFB.de: Why?
Lahm: Because he’ll probably play on the wing and I’ll be in the centre, or he might be in the centre and I’ll be on the wing.
As told to DFB.de.
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Bayern’s comeback against Bremen this weekend has given the team an added confidence boost ahead of their Champions League semi-final second leg at home against Real Madrid on Tuesday (live on ZDF and Sky from 20:45 CET). After his side’s 5-2 win over Werder, Munich captain Philipp Lahm spoke to DFB.de about Ribery, Real Madrid and how to defend counterattacks more effectively.
DFB.de: Philipp Lahm, you posted a clear win against Werder after a wobble in the first half. How significant was that first 45 minutes in light of Tuesday’s decisive game with Real?
Philipp Lahm: What’s important is that we go home feeling positive, and we can certainly do that. The second half was solid: we were able to turn the match around, then won convincingly. Real on Tuesday will be a different game entirely.
DFB.de: Franck Ribery looked much improved against Bremen after some uneven performances recently. What’s your view on him right now?
Lahm: I train with Franck every day and he really does make a remarkable impact. I’m not worried about him. He’s an exceptional footballer who can decide the entire course of a match. It’s normal for a player to have a couple of weeks, months or even years in which they don’t play at the same exceptional level as they have before – we’ve all been there at some point. I’m certain Franck will have another excellent game on Tuesday and will help get us into the final.
DFB.de: You were on the bench for the first half against Bremen. How did the two goals Bayern conceded look from the outside?
Lahm: We’ll analyse the mistakes we made. Goals are always scored when someone makes a mistake, and we saw that again against Bremen. Otherwise we let very little through. We’ll take a look at it and analyse what happened.
DFB.de: Do you need to look at the team’s concentration going into games like that?
Lahm: Yes, and not just with the goals we conceded but elsewhere too. Some situations were definitely a matter of concentration, but that’s normal too. We can’t allow it to happen against Real.
DFB.de: How will Bayern want and have to play after losing the first leg 1-0 to Real?
Lahm: At full throttle, of course. We always play for the win: we did it in Madrid and we’ll do it again on Tuesday with passion and heart. I’m very confident that if we do that, we can reach the final.
DFB.de: What must Bayern improve in order to cope with Real?
Lahm: We conceded the two goals against Bremen too easily, so we need to play with greater focus. We know we need to keep the ball, stay organised and give Real as few chances as possible. We’ve got to be more purposeful; we didn’t do that so well in the first leg. We’ve also got to be more consistent with our final ball.
DFB.de: Recently there has been speculation that long-range shots are forbidden at Bayern. Does your coach, Pep Guardiola, have a rule about this?
Lahm: Yeah, we mustn’t take them. (laughs) Seriously though, there’s no rule that we can’t shoot from distance. The coach would shoot from 40 metres himself if he knew they’d all go in the top corner, and missing shots means we don’t give our opponents the opportunity to counterattack.
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DFB.de: Apart from missing shots, how else do you plan to control Real’s counterattacking strengths with lightning-fast players like Gareth Bale or Cristiano Ronaldo?
Lahm: It doesn’t change much for us; we’ll keep pushing forward. Even in Madrid we pushed forward and had to adjust for the counterattack. Almost all teams play that way against us in the Bundesliga.
DFB.de: Your team always defends very high up the pitch: even against Bremen that was the case. Are there opportunities to defend a little deeper to give your opponents less space to counterattack?
Lahm: That’s not for me to decide, but I’m glad we play the way we do. It’s just satisfying to play with total control. Okay, sometimes we concede goals on the counterattack, but I don’t see any problems with our set-up.
DFB.de: Are you looking forward to playing against Cristiano Ronaldo?
Lahm: I’m not sure we’ll come up against each other much.
DFB.de: Why?
Lahm: Because he’ll probably play on the wing and I’ll be in the centre, or he might be in the centre and I’ll be on the wing.
As told to DFB.de.
