‘A perfect weekend’
FCB now confident of retaining third spot
01.05.2011
Christian Nerlinger felt he had witnessed “fireworks” and “top-quality football” - and he wasn’t talking about Borussia Dortmund, crowned German champions at the weekend. Nerlinger was commenting on Bayern’s crushing 4-1 victory over Schalke, in which Munich had the sell-out Allianz Arena crowd on its feet with some scintillating play. Even more importantly, Hannover’s defeat to Gladbach meant FCB recovered third spot.
“It was a perfect weekend for us,” Nerlinger continued, as FCB changed places with Hannover for the fifth matchday in a row. However, the Bavarians are determined not to surrender the Champions League qualifying spot from now on in. FCB are two points clear of Hannover and boast a vastly superior goal difference (+33 to +3), so four points from the remaining two matches will realistically be enough. Might it still go wrong? “If we play like we did today, no,” Bastian Schweinsteiger declared.
“We really enjoyed ourselves and we were very, very aggressive,” said Philipp Lahm, after Bayern dominated Champions League semi-finalists Schalke at will. Arjen Robben (6), Thomas Müller (14) and Mario Gomez (19) effectively settled the contest in the opening 20 minutes. Even the visitors’ eighth-minute equaliser, unluckily prodded over his own line by Holger Badstuber, never threatened to derail the home side. Müller (84) completed his brace to round off the scoring at the end. “And it was still probably two or three goals fewer than it should have been,” the striker mused.
Andries Jonker declared himself “very, very satisfied” with his team. “We played outstanding football in the first 35 minutes,” the caretaker boss commented. “In the first 35 minutes, that was the real FC Bayern,” agreed skipper Lahm. “I don’t think there are many teams in Europe capable of our football,” ventured Schweinsteiger.
Reserves of potential
“There was real venom in our play today. We played some amazing stuff at times, and our passing was sensational,” said Müller, although that thought gave the player cause for reflection: “There’s a bitter aftertaste. We’ve made so little of the potential in this team. You keep asking yourself how we’ve so carelessly tossed away the season, considering what we could have achieved with this group.”
In recent weeks, FCB have beaten Schalke 4-1, Leverkusen 5-1, and Hamburg 6-0, at home on every occasion. However, too many points have gone begging on the road, most recently in an avoidable 1-1 draw with Frankfurt. For all the heroics against Schalke, next weekend’s trip to St. Pauli is another stern test. “St. Pauli are bottom but may still think they have a tiny chance,” warned Schweinsteiger, “but if we play as well as today, we should take the three points, even away from home.”
Chairman’s warning
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge believes next Saturday’s trip will be “a very difficult match. St. Pauli are all but relegated, but they’ll want to drop out of the Bundesliga on a high.” The chairman called on everyone at the club “to avoid complacency” in the two remaining matches: “We’ve not hit our target yet.”
However, with the season almost at an end, Bayern are certainly a lot closer to their goal of a Champions League qualifying spot. Arjen Robben spoke with deep conviction afterwards: “We definitely won’t surrender third place any more. If we play like we did today, nothing can go wrong.”
Credit: FC Bayern Munich (www.fcbayern.t-com.de)
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