Robert Lewandowski, Marco Reus and Co. reflect on Bayern Munich's 5-0 win over Borussia Dortmund
Robert Lewandowski led the plaudits after Bayern Munich went a point clear of Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga thanks to a 5-0 rout that Marco Reus can't quite get his head around.
bundesliga.com rounds up the post-match reaction to a potentially decisive result in the title race...
Robert Lewandowski (striker): "I’m really pleased with how we played today and that I scored two goals to be part of it. Every player enjoys it when we play like we did today."
Watch: Robert Lewandowski reflects on breaking the 200-goal barrier
Mats Hummels (defender): "Before the game we said that we wanted to attack and make sure we showed people it was a home game, which is what we didn’t do again Liverpool [in the Champions League]. That’s what we want to see and what anyone connected with Bayern wants to see. We knew the focus had to be on keeping them from scoring and dominating the game ourselves, and we managed to do that."
Manuel Neuer (goalkeeper): "It was a really good performance. We’re delighted. Everyone played well in defence and attack, but especially together. It was dominant. It’s the first big game that’s gone our way, we’ve been waiting a while for it."
Thomas Müller (forward): "It feels great, but it's not the end of the season. We're a point ahead, so we know we have to continue to ride this wave after sending out this signal so we win our next games."
Watch: Thomas Müller hopes for more of the same down the final straight
Niko Kovac (coach): "We were excellent for 90 minutes, but the first half was sensational. We hemmed them in, pressed high and won a lot of important balls. That performance needs to be the benchmark for us now. We showed everything that I want and expect from the team, and what we did at the beginning of the season. We could and should have won by a bigger margin."
Watch: Niko Kovac reviews Bayern's five-star Klassiker win
Marco Reus (captain): "We played catastrophically, defended catastrophically, I honestly can’t explain it. We created no pressure and Bayern were much better, we just have to accept that. But we also have to be brutally honest in our analysis of what went wrong today. If we play like that against any team, we'll struggle. We had to put them under pressure here, we failed at that at every moment. We had the first big chance, but were clearly worse today. You have to turn up and compete, and as a collective we didn’t do that."
Thomas Delaney (midfielder): "It’s hard to say what the exact difference was. They were better physically, mentally and tactically. We just got schooled."
Watch: Thomas Delaney pulled no punches in his assessment of the Bayern defeat
Manuel Akanji (defender): "When every corner leads to a goal-scoring opportunity, you've got no chance here. We were way off the pace in the first half, hardly anything clicked. Mats Hummels had four free headers. We didn't put them under enough pressure in possession and let them play their game. We went into the game to win. When you come here to play Bayern, you have to take your chances, but the performance wasn't up to standard. The season's not over yet, but we can't afford to play like we did today again. It's over if we do."
Lucien Favre (coach): "Bayern were much better tonight. This is a hard defeat to digest, but they definitely deserved it. They played with great rhythm and scored their goals at the right time. My tactical choices? After the match it’s easy to say they were not a good idea, but I don’t know if it would have been better with another tactical plan. Now we have to focus on our next match against Mainz. But if we play like we did today, it’s going to be hard, we need to be clear about that. The game is done and we can’t change anything. We need to look ahead because we have six tough matches to come."
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