Mats Hummels was given a special task during Borussia Dortmund’s 0-0 home draw against FC Bayern München in the top fixture on Bundesliga matchday 25. Not only was the Dortmund skipper in charge of a five-man defence when the opponent had the ball, he also kept a close eye on Thomas Müller. In an interview with DFB.de the World Champion talked about the game and its impact on the title race.
Question: Mr. Hummels, how do rate the 0-0 draw against Bayern München?
Mats Hummels: I think it’s a fair result. It’s not a result we will celebrate, but based on the balance of play, it’s the right one. Both teams had chances to score, but Bayern’s were better I guess – they hit the woodwork and Müller came close to netting too. Otherwise it was an extremely hard fought-over match, a very interesting one.
Question: What was playing in a back five like?
Hummels: Put it this way, it was great to see that Bayern had to react to our tactical ploy during the match. It’s extraordinary to see Robben and Müller change their attacking behaviour once they noticed how Marcel Schmelzer and I were defending against them. It’s football at the highest tactical level. We faced an extremely strong Bayern team and were solid.
Question: Bayern remain five clear. Do you think yesterday was a missed opportunity?
Hummels: Nope, not at all.
Question: Were you asked to man mark Thomas Müller?
Hummels: Yes, I was. Thomas is very clever though immediately realised what was happening. He addressed the issue to Arjen Robben and they started to move a bit differently. It was a good move by them. “Schmelle” and I had our hands full to contain them. We had two or three good turnovers in the first half, but I’m quite upset about two other scenes in the game, where I was unable to clear the ball and allowed dangerous three-on-three situations in our own half. But like I said before: Our plan was good today, but Bayern simply have a great team and able to shift through the gears if their original plan doesn’t work out. It was great.
Question: How boring will the league become now that Bayern hold a five-point lead and no longer have to play against Dortmund?
Hummels: Not at all! I honestly don’t understand these type of statements. We have to work hard in every game to get our points. Mainz will come here next week and they just won in Munich and recorded a 3-0 victory against Leverkusen - I don’t see the league becoming boring at all.
Question: Your next game is on Thursday, when you face Tottenham in the Europa League round of 32 first leg. It’s the fifth consecutive week where you have a game every three or four days. Is there enough time to regenerate?
Hummels: It’s good for our bodies that we actually have a longer break this week than just three days. Playing on a Tuesday following an intensive game like we had against Bayern today, could see some players running on tired legs. But on Thursday we should all be rested, both physically and mentally.
Question: How do you rate Tottenham?
Hummels: I honestly haven’t spent a whole lot of time thinking about that game yet. But looking at the Premier League standings and each player in their squad, you know that it will be a fantastic match. We are all really looking forward to it. I’m not someone who always hopes to get drawn to weaker opponents. I would prefer to play against the strongest teams possible right from the start. We were lucky the past two draws now, as we were given very strong opponents. It would an entirely different feeling, if we are to eliminate Tottenham from the competition, rather than some team which everyone expects us to get by anyway.
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Mats Hummels was given a special task during Borussia Dortmund’s 0-0 home draw against FC Bayern München in the top fixture on Bundesliga matchday 25. Not only was the Dortmund skipper in charge of a five-man defence when the opponent had the ball, he also kept a close eye on Thomas Müller. In an interview with DFB.de the World Champion talked about the game and its impact on the title race.
Question: Mr. Hummels, how do rate the 0-0 draw against Bayern München?
Mats Hummels: I think it’s a fair result. It’s not a result we will celebrate, but based on the balance of play, it’s the right one. Both teams had chances to score, but Bayern’s were better I guess – they hit the woodwork and Müller came close to netting too. Otherwise it was an extremely hard fought-over match, a very interesting one.
Question: What was playing in a back five like?
Hummels: Put it this way, it was great to see that Bayern had to react to our tactical ploy during the match. It’s extraordinary to see Robben and Müller change their attacking behaviour once they noticed how Marcel Schmelzer and I were defending against them. It’s football at the highest tactical level. We faced an extremely strong Bayern team and were solid.
Question: Bayern remain five clear. Do you think yesterday was a missed opportunity?
Hummels: Nope, not at all.
Question: Were you asked to man mark Thomas Müller?
Hummels: Yes, I was. Thomas is very clever though immediately realised what was happening. He addressed the issue to Arjen Robben and they started to move a bit differently. It was a good move by them. “Schmelle” and I had our hands full to contain them. We had two or three good turnovers in the first half, but I’m quite upset about two other scenes in the game, where I was unable to clear the ball and allowed dangerous three-on-three situations in our own half. But like I said before: Our plan was good today, but Bayern simply have a great team and able to shift through the gears if their original plan doesn’t work out. It was great.
Question: How boring will the league become now that Bayern hold a five-point lead and no longer have to play against Dortmund?
Hummels: Not at all! I honestly don’t understand these type of statements. We have to work hard in every game to get our points. Mainz will come here next week and they just won in Munich and recorded a 3-0 victory against Leverkusen - I don’t see the league becoming boring at all.
Question: Your next game is on Thursday, when you face Tottenham in the Europa League round of 32 first leg. It’s the fifth consecutive week where you have a game every three or four days. Is there enough time to regenerate?
Hummels: It’s good for our bodies that we actually have a longer break this week than just three days. Playing on a Tuesday following an intensive game like we had against Bayern today, could see some players running on tired legs. But on Thursday we should all be rested, both physically and mentally.
Question: How do you rate Tottenham?
Hummels: I honestly haven’t spent a whole lot of time thinking about that game yet. But looking at the Premier League standings and each player in their squad, you know that it will be a fantastic match. We are all really looking forward to it. I’m not someone who always hopes to get drawn to weaker opponents. I would prefer to play against the strongest teams possible right from the start. We were lucky the past two draws now, as we were given very strong opponents. It would an entirely different feeling, if we are to eliminate Tottenham from the competition, rather than some team which everyone expects us to get by anyway.
