Robert Lewandowski: 'Leipzig not our main concern'
Robert Lewandowski was the match-winner for FC Bayern München in their 3-1 win at 1. FSV Mainz 05 with his eighth and ninth goals of this Bundesliga campaign. The centre forward was pivotal in the Bavarians’ victory as he cancelled out Jhon Cordoba’s early strike for the hosts before putting the game beyond doubt with a free-kick in injury time.
Lewandowski picked up 14 points against Mainz. Add him to your Official Fantasy Bundesliga team!
After the final whistle, the Poland international spoke about Bayern’s formation with four forwards, why RB Leipzig’s winning run is not too important for him and his belief that FCB are back on the right path.
Question: Mr Lewandowski, what’s your opinion on the performance?
Lewandowski: It was a super performance from us in the first half because we played with great speed. In the second half, we didn’t play with the same tempo but we still controlled the game and Mainz hardly had a chance in front of goal. We played very well in a tactical sense and allowed them almost nothing apart from their opening goal.
Watch: Lewandowski on Bayern's impressive attacking play against Mainz.
Question: Do Leipzig know now that Bayern are back?
Lewandowski: Whether Leipzig or FC Schalke 04 win is not my main concern when I’m at home. There are a lot of games still to come and we haven’t even played Leipzig yet. Of course it’s nice that we’re back in first place and now we can watch Leipzig on Saturday and see how they do against Schalke. But the most important thing is that we win our games – that is the priority for FC Bayern.
Question: You were very pleased with your goals, especially the second. Was that because it was a free-kick or because your competitors in the goal-scoring chart will be a little more worried about you now?
Lewandowski: I was really pleased with that free-kick because I’ve been practising that a lot lately. I was waiting for that sort of chance where I could score just like I’ve done in training. And with the third goal it was also clear that we had won here and I could get my fourth consecutive brace away at Mainz.
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Question: Why was the second half not as good as the first?
Lewandowski: I looked at the clock one time thinking that we’d already played 75 minutes, but it was just the 21st minute. That shows how high our tempo was in the opening stage of the game. It’s very tough to maintain this sort of pace for the full 90 minutes, but we were also 2-1 up and could control the game and didn’t have to go on the attack.
Relive the record champions's win in Mainz HERE.
Question: It’s the first time this season you’ve started with four forwards; how did the team enjoy that?
Lewandowski: We were able to create a lot of chances because of that but we could also play through the middle. And of course we can all switch positions, which we did really well today up front. We don’t always have to play with so many attackers but it worked really well today.
Question: Were you pleased that Thomas Müller could play closer to you today?
Lewandowski: It’s always easier for a striker when someone is close to you. We’ve played a lot like this so it was nothing new for us today. It’s also probably better for Thomas when we can play on the shoulder and run into the space. He did that really well today.
Question: The next Bundesliga game is at home to VfL Wolfsburg, and you definitely have good memories of that fixture, right? (Lewandowski scored five goals in nine minutes in the last home game against Wolfsburg).
Lewandowski (laughs): Yeah, that was a good game but lightning can’t strike twice. But you never know in football… Seriously though, we just have to play our own game. I think we are on the right path again but we have to keep fighting, playing football and then we’ll see what happens in the next few games.