Bayern München put on yet another demonstration of strength as they overcame Arsenal FC, who feature World Cup winners Per Mertesacker and Mesut Özil, 5-1 on matchday 4 of the Champions League group stage. Thomas Müller was once again on target for Bayern, with the 26-year-old scoring twice against the side currently sitting in second place in the Premier League. In an interview with DFB.de, he discussed the game against Arsenal, his goalscoring record for Bayern, the current strengths of the German champions and his future at the club.
Question: Mr Müller, things went pretty well for you on the pitch last night.
Thomas Müller: It went incredibly well. You always need to wait for the right moment.
Question: Does your boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge see it differently, as you've just overtaken him with 32 European Cup goals?
Müller: I haven't seen him yet, as I went straight through to the drug-testing room, but I did overhear that. I'm pleased about it since he was a huge player in Europe and in world football as a whole. It's a nice record.
Question: You're just 34 behind Gerd Müller now…
Müller: Exactly, that'll be a bit harder, but I'll try my best.
Question: Manuel Neuer said that you'll manage it if you stay at Bayern until you're 35.
Müller: Yes, but I'd have to be here quite a while! It's not easy to spend 15 years playing at that level for Bayern, but sometimes surprising things can happen, so maybe it'll work out.
Question: Have you secured your place in the last 16 now?
Müller: It was a big step. Our situation was a bit harder before the game and we were under a bit of pressure. We wanted to put on a good show in front of our own fans.
Question: What role did the 2-0 away defeat to Arsenal two weeks ago play?
Müller: There's no question that we were motivated and eager to win, but we were aware of the situation. It's not as if we played catastrophically in London, but we lacked a degree of luck.
Question: Was it an almost perfect performance up until you went 4-0 up?
Müller: The first half was very good. In the second half we had to make a few long runs back as we lost the ball too easily at times. We're only human, and it can happen that you're a not careful enough from time to time.
Question: On the whole, was it a demonstration of power?
Müller: Journalists can be the judges of that. We wanted to play our own game, as we managed against Wolfsburg. When you're 3-0 up at half time against both Wolfsburg and Arsenal, it's fair to say you've played well. It'd be nice to keep that up.
Question: Manager Pep Guardiola has a lot of options at his disposal, as we saw when he brought on Arjen Robben.
Müller: Yes, it happened very quickly for him. It was a very convincing scoreline!
Question: How far can the team go in its current state?
Müller: We want to go a long way. We can go anywhere, but right now we're going home.
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Bayern München put on yet another demonstration of strength as they overcame Arsenal FC, who feature World Cup winners Per Mertesacker and Mesut Özil, 5-1 on matchday 4 of the Champions League group stage. Thomas Müller was once again on target for Bayern, with the 26-year-old scoring twice against the side currently sitting in second place in the Premier League. In an interview with DFB.de, he discussed the game against Arsenal, his goalscoring record for Bayern, the current strengths of the German champions and his future at the club.
Question: Mr Müller, things went pretty well for you on the pitch last night.
Thomas Müller: It went incredibly well. You always need to wait for the right moment.
Question: Does your boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge see it differently, as you've just overtaken him with 32 European Cup goals?
Müller: I haven't seen him yet, as I went straight through to the drug-testing room, but I did overhear that. I'm pleased about it since he was a huge player in Europe and in world football as a whole. It's a nice record.
Question: You're just 34 behind Gerd Müller now…
Müller: Exactly, that'll be a bit harder, but I'll try my best.
Question: Manuel Neuer said that you'll manage it if you stay at Bayern until you're 35.
Müller: Yes, but I'd have to be here quite a while! It's not easy to spend 15 years playing at that level for Bayern, but sometimes surprising things can happen, so maybe it'll work out.
Question: Have you secured your place in the last 16 now?
Müller: It was a big step. Our situation was a bit harder before the game and we were under a bit of pressure. We wanted to put on a good show in front of our own fans.
Question: What role did the 2-0 away defeat to Arsenal two weeks ago play?
Müller: There's no question that we were motivated and eager to win, but we were aware of the situation. It's not as if we played catastrophically in London, but we lacked a degree of luck.
Question: Was it an almost perfect performance up until you went 4-0 up?
Müller: The first half was very good. In the second half we had to make a few long runs back as we lost the ball too easily at times. We're only human, and it can happen that you're a not careful enough from time to time.
Question: On the whole, was it a demonstration of power?
Müller: Journalists can be the judges of that. We wanted to play our own game, as we managed against Wolfsburg. When you're 3-0 up at half time against both Wolfsburg and Arsenal, it's fair to say you've played well. It'd be nice to keep that up.
Question: Manager Pep Guardiola has a lot of options at his disposal, as we saw when he brought on Arjen Robben.
Müller: Yes, it happened very quickly for him. It was a very convincing scoreline!
Question: How far can the team go in its current state?
Müller: We want to go a long way. We can go anywhere, but right now we're going home.
