After an impressive performance against Bayer Leverkusen secured a 1-0 win at the Allianz Arena; Pep Gaurdiola, Roger Schmidt and players from both sides spoke to the media, with everyone in agreement over Bayern's quality.
"He is one of the best foreign players to ever play for this club," Pep Guardiola on Frank Ribéry.
The Spanish coach was full of complements for his wing wizards and a subsitute who changed the game, "Ribery and Robben are primarily attackers but did their defensive duties well. Our final pass wasn’t good in the first half. Sebastian Rode made sure we went for it full tilt after the break." Though focus turned to a very impressive effort as a collective, “It was an outstanding team performance. It was very, very tough. After the chance at the start we basically shut them out and that’s very important to us. I’m pleased because I’m aware of the calibre of the opponents we’ve just played.”
While the win maintained Bayern's seven point lead over second-placed Wolfsburg; most of the attention was Franck Ribéry, after the Frenchman netted his 100th goal for the Bavarians: “It was an important victory in a very tough match. Leverkusen are a good team. It’s a shame we didn’t score a second goal." Even with the personally accolade, Ribéry was more concerned about it's value to the team, "My 100th goal is nice for me personally, but most of all it’s important for the team. We still have four games to go this year and we want to win them all.”
Arjen Robben commented, “You could say it was less spectacular than people thought it would be." The Dutchman eluded to the game being played between two very well-matched teams, possibly as a reason for the lack of goals, "Both teams like to get forward and don’t like pulling everyone back. But both teams were very watchful, because they knew there was so much pace and quality on the pitch.”
Leverkusen's sporting director, Rudi Völler, shared a similar view to Robben: “We played very well in the first half and especially the first 30 minutes. We made chances, but unfortunately we didn’t take them. Our pressing game was good." Though he acknowledged the supreme strength of their oponents, "Bayern didn’t have many truly clear-cut openings, but at some point you come under increasing pressure against Bayern. They’re always capable of hurting us.”
Roger Schmidt was also very praise-worthy of the hosts, with the opener coming at just the wrong time: “Congratulations to Bayern! I think it was deserved, but we also had the chances to go on and win it. Unfortunately, the opening goal came too early in the second half and that made it very tough for us. Everyone can see Bayern have so much quality. They let the ball do the work and we never came close to their goal again.”
Stefan Kießling gave credit to his team-mates, who gave Bayern a run for their money: “We did well in the first half, we were on a par with them and had the better of the chances. We should even have taken the lead. Bayern didn’t create much in the first half." However, he recognised that die Werkself dropped off in the second period, "I don’t know what happened in the second half. We didn’t play anywhere near as well. Maybe we were missing the last couple of percent that allow you to do the decisive things.”