Robben: 'Without Neuer the game might have ended differently'
Munich - FC Bayern München may have been celebrating their 115th birthday on Friday, but after their 4-1 victory over 1. FC Köln, the main topic of conversation was a certain Manuel Neuer.
FC Bayern München
bundesliga.com
rounds up the best of the post-match reaction from the Allianz Arena...
"I thought it was quite a strange game today. We started really well and went 2-0 up early on. When you do that you need to kill the game off and score more goals. We didn't do either and then we conceded at the worst possible time. We didn't start so well in the second half and didn't have the same aggression going forward with the ball. And after that Manuel [Neuer] made some brilliant saves. It was down to Manu that we won today. Without him maybe the game would have finished differently. I was very annoyed with myself after wasting a chance just before my goal. I wanted to pass to Frank and I should have played it better. If I had, he'd have made it 3-1 and that would have been game over. So I was still very frustrated at myself but I was also happy at scoring and putting the game to bed."
"It was a great game at the start and we were superb for the first 15 minutes. After that it wasn't as good. You can't ever underestimate your opponents and Köln were very dangerous today. Manuel [Neuer] was world-class - there's no two ways about it. It was very frustrating to concede when we did because it gave Köln more of an impulse. We then had to push for a third goal in order to kill the game off, which we managed to do but it was hard work. On a personal level I'm feeling increasingly stable and it's good that I'm playing. Every minute on the pitch helps me to get back to my best."
I didn’t think Köln played badly at all today. Okay, they may have been a bit stunned in the first few minutes but after that they played well. It certainly wasn’t an easy game and when they pulled it back to 2-1 we knew we had to keep our foot on the gas. It doesn’t matter: head, left-foot, right-foot, chest… The main thing is that it goes in!"
: "We're all happy now. I think we played pretty well but then we eased off a bit and switched off for their goal to make it 2-1. That made things a bit tighter after the break but once we overcame that it all went well. I just listen to my instinct [to make reflex saves]."
1. FC Köln
"I think Arjen Robben is in absolutely incredible form at the moment. He’s playing unbelievably well but it’s difficult to double up on him because they have world-class players in every other position too, so if you let them have any space, you’ve had it, basically. It’s a case of trying to keep your shape but once they get the ball moving, they always find a gap. And if you don’t take the chances that come your way then it’s enormously difficult to take anything away from here. At least we showed that it is possible to create chances against the mighty Bayern. They played a very aggressive game with pretty much all the attackers at their disposal out there. When they did lose the ball that made them very vulnerable to counterattacks and we exploited that at times quite well. We had one or two moments where if we'd played a bit better we might have had something. Our goal got our hopes up a bit, but after they made it 3-1 it was all over. I managed to save a couple of shots to ensure the margin of victory wasn't any higher but overall we gave it everything but it just wasn't enough."
"We started the game really badly and conceded two goals early on. We knew we'd have to change something and close the spaces down. We didn't defend well in the first few minutes and made it too easy for them. After about 20-25 minutes we got into the game a bit better. We started being bolder going forward and got one back at just the right time. We had a couple of opportunities after the break but when they've got such a good goalkeeper then it makes it twice as hard. We played well at times but in the end it wasn't enough because we made too many mistakes."
Jonathan Stockitt reporting from the Allianz Arena
Take a look at FC Bayern's pre-match celebrations in honour of their 115th birthday on the Bundesliga's official YouTube channel:
