Five wins out of six, Bastian Schweinsteiger’s return to the starting 11, Thomas Müller’s record setting goal and another clean sheet: Everything went to plan for FC Bayern München in the Champions League on Wednesday night against CSKA Moscow.
Germany and FC Bayern No. 1 Manuel Neuer was already focussing on the upcoming Bundesliga task in Augsburg, but also talked about Bayern’s 3-0 victory, Müller’s special goal, Schweinsteiger’s return and FCB’s strong defensive performances.
Question: Mr. Neuer, Thomas Müller scored his 24th Champions League goal against Moscow, overtaking Mario Gomez as FC Bayern’s record goalscorer in the Champions League. Did he buy you guys a round of drinks after the game?
Manuel Neuer: No he didn’t. Nevertheless I’d like to congratulate him! He has scored a lot of goals in the competition and is always unpredictable. He did score a few penalties as well though.
Question: How would you rate Bastian Schweinsteiger’s performance, after he made the starting XI for the first time since the World Cup final?
Neuer: He played well. Obviously he is really happy to be back and to play a full game after being out for a long time. He is back now and it’s great to see him back on the pitch and have him around the team again. He delivered a dedicated performance, covered a lot of ground and created plenty of challenges. However, we still have to give him some more time.
Question: Do you think the World Cup success spurred on all four Bundesliga sides to reach the knock-out phase in the Champions League?
Neuer: I can’t judge that but it’s obviously great for the league to have all German teams make the next round and that makes us happy as well. It’s good for football in Germany and for our national team.
Question: Which team would you like to play in the round of 16?
Neuer: Anything is possible. We can’t decide our fate. Every team is interesting in their own way. I think the toughest team would be Paris St. Germain and we haven’t played them in recent years. But in the end it doesn’t matter if we play them now or later in the competition.
Question: Bayern play away to third-placed Augsburg next. Are you surprised with their progress this season?
Neuer: Of course it’s surprising but recent years have shown that Augsburg work together well as a unit. They have clear ideals about how they want to play football. They work together and have a good philosophy. It’s difficult to win there. They are strong competitors and it’s not going to be easy for us. Fortunately we already know what to expect.
Question: Bayern’s last trip to Augsburg ended in a 1-0 defeat.
Neuer: We were already Bundesliga champions at the time, which is something that has to be considered. But our first game against Augsburg last season was also a very balanced game. It’s a derby and Augsburg’s biggest game of the season. We sometimes struggle against Augsburg, but we’ve always won our important games there.
Question: You’ve only conceded three goals this Bundesliga campaign. What’s your secret?
Neuer: Usually we always try to keep possession. If we have a lot of possession, it becomes difficult for the opposition to score goals. We work hard without the ball. Every player, even our attacking players, immediately look to regain possession after the ball is lost. That’s good for our game and if something goes wrong then we still have defenders to take care of it.
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Five wins out of six, Bastian Schweinsteiger’s return to the starting 11, Thomas Müller’s record setting goal and another clean sheet: Everything went to plan for FC Bayern München in the Champions League on Wednesday night against CSKA Moscow.
Germany and FC Bayern No. 1 Manuel Neuer was already focussing on the upcoming Bundesliga task in Augsburg, but also talked about Bayern’s 3-0 victory, Müller’s special goal, Schweinsteiger’s return and FCB’s strong defensive performances.
Question: Mr. Neuer, Thomas Müller scored his 24th Champions League goal against Moscow, overtaking Mario Gomez as FC Bayern’s record goalscorer in the Champions League. Did he buy you guys a round of drinks after the game?
Manuel Neuer: No he didn’t. Nevertheless I’d like to congratulate him! He has scored a lot of goals in the competition and is always unpredictable. He did score a few penalties as well though.
Question: How would you rate Bastian Schweinsteiger’s performance, after he made the starting XI for the first time since the World Cup final?
Neuer: He played well. Obviously he is really happy to be back and to play a full game after being out for a long time. He is back now and it’s great to see him back on the pitch and have him around the team again. He delivered a dedicated performance, covered a lot of ground and created plenty of challenges. However, we still have to give him some more time.
Question: Do you think the World Cup success spurred on all four Bundesliga sides to reach the knock-out phase in the Champions League?
Neuer: I can’t judge that but it’s obviously great for the league to have all German teams make the next round and that makes us happy as well. It’s good for football in Germany and for our national team.
Question: Which team would you like to play in the round of 16?
Neuer: Anything is possible. We can’t decide our fate. Every team is interesting in their own way. I think the toughest team would be Paris St. Germain and we haven’t played them in recent years. But in the end it doesn’t matter if we play them now or later in the competition.
Question: Bayern play away to third-placed Augsburg next. Are you surprised with their progress this season?
Neuer: Of course it’s surprising but recent years have shown that Augsburg work together well as a unit. They have clear ideals about how they want to play football. They work together and have a good philosophy. It’s difficult to win there. They are strong competitors and it’s not going to be easy for us. Fortunately we already know what to expect.
Question: Bayern’s last trip to Augsburg ended in a 1-0 defeat.
Neuer: We were already Bundesliga champions at the time, which is something that has to be considered. But our first game against Augsburg last season was also a very balanced game. It’s a derby and Augsburg’s biggest game of the season. We sometimes struggle against Augsburg, but we’ve always won our important games there.
Question: You’ve only conceded three goals this Bundesliga campaign. What’s your secret?
Neuer: Usually we always try to keep possession. If we have a lot of possession, it becomes difficult for the opposition to score goals. We work hard without the ball. Every player, even our attacking players, immediately look to regain possession after the ball is lost. That’s good for our game and if something goes wrong then we still have defenders to take care of it.
