Schweinsteiger: "Frustrating when you don't win"
Munich - Two points dropped or a point gained - Bayern Munich's players weren't quite sure what to make of the 1-1 draw in Saturday's Klassiker against champions Borussia Dortmund.
A setback though it may have been to relinquish the win after opening the scoring, Bastian Schweinsteiger instead chose to concentrate on Bayern's displays throughout the season, which have seen them shoot to the top of the league with an eight-point gap. As he explained to the assembled press after Saturday's stalemate, the immediate future looks very bright indeed for the Germany record title-holders.
Question: Bastian Schweinsteiger, two points dropped or one gained - how do you feel about the 1-1?
Bastian Schweinsteiger: That's difficult to answer, really. We're still in a very good position with an eight-point lead over [Bayer] Leverkusen, and eleven ahead of Dortmund, but we put so much into trying to get a second goal late on. We added an extra player up front on set-pieces as we wanted to force the win, and we had some good chances from Toni [Kroos] and Javi [Martinez] but Roman Weidenfeller made some world-class saves for them. Winning would have been great, obviously, but we can take the 1-1.
Question: You've kept BVB at a distance, but how frustrating is it not to have beaten them?
Schweinsteiger: It's always frustrating when you don't win. We were poorly organised when we conceded the goal; you just can't give Mario Götze so much space. But he also finished it very well, it wasn't an easy chance.
Question: Bayern played a lot of long balls in the second half, which seemed to make your job in midfield rather difficult.
Schweinsteiger: Dortmund move very well as a team and are good at pressing, which is why it wasn't easy for us to play through the middle. That was why we sometimes had to play long balls. But they did it as well. It's a tactic that can help you create good goalscoring opportunities.
Question: Holger Badstuber's injury must be a blow for the team.
Schweinsteiger: It's massively disappointing. Holger's a very important player for us and still very young, and he's only recently returned from a thigh injury. I think he's one of the best defenders around.
Question: How much confidence will the draw give the team ahead of Wednesday's Champions League game with BATE Borisov?
Schweinsteiger: We're very confident. I think we're in an excellent position in all competitions and obviously we want to keep hold of top spot in our group. It won't be easy against Borisov, though, and they’ll be tough to beat. But our target is to build on our good results and that's why we'll give 110 percent to try and win the game.
Question: Bayern lost away to Borisov on Matchday 2 - are you worried at all about a repeat of that result?
Schweinsteiger: We're playing at home this time, but it was definitely a warning to us, of course. Borisov aren't a team that you can just beat 5-0. They came close to getting a draw in Valencia and they shouldn't be underestimated, particularly not after our first meeting. We'll have to give our all and try to win the group, which is massively important for the last sixteen.
Question: What do you think are Bayern's chances this campaign in the Champions League?
Schweinsteiger: We reached the final twice in the last three years and hope to go far this season, too. And we will be, as long as we're left to do our job. I know first-hand about the huge potential within our team.
Question: Leverkusen are second in the table, Dortmund third. Which team do you consider to be your main competitors in the Bundesliga?
Schweinsteiger: We've always said that it's Dortmund in terms of quality, but we need to keep an eye on Leverkusen as well. They beat us at home and have been playing really well in the last six or seven matches. Their play might be a little result-oriented, but that doesn't matter as long as you get results.
Question: How much are you looking forward to a Bavarian derby against Augsburg next weekend?
Schweinsteiger: I think it's important for us to win our last two league games before the winter break against Augsburg and Mönchengladbach. That will make it a very, very good first half of the campaign for us. But we know it's never easy winning in Augsburg, even more so because it's a derby. Last year we only won 2-1 and Augsburg won't make it easy for us at all.
