Bayern Munich match-winner Joshua Kimmich: "It'll be tough for Borussia Dortmund now"
Joshua Kimmich believes the title is Bayern Munich's to lose after firing the defending champions seven points clear of Borussia Dortmund with "the best goal of my career" in Der Klassiker.
bundesliga.com rounds up the post-match thoughts following Bayern's narrow, but potentially decisive, 1-0 victory at the Signal Iduna Park...
Lucien Favre (head coach): "I think we played very well. We started well, but perhaps dropped too deep for the rest of the first half. The first 30 minutes was good, so was the second half. We were missing that final ball. We deserved to at least get a draw."
Thorgan Hazard (forward): "They scored a wonderful goal just before half-time, but after that we continued to play to try to win the game. We were unlucky to lose today."
Watch: Thorgan Hazard reflects on Dortmund's Klassiker loss
Emre Can (midfielder): "We gave it everything; we certainly didn’t play badly. The final ball was missing towards the end, though. We have to be realistic, now Bayern are seven points clear. We have to focus on ourselves and try to win our remaining games. If nothing happens, Bayern will be champions."
Mats Hummels (defender): "We didn’t play badly. We had our chances, but the chances weren’t big enough. We were missing that little extra something. Sometimes a moment of genius decides games like this. That was the case today. Now it’s Bayern’s title to lose. I think all the other teams are out of the race now. We have to hope for three slip-ups in the remaining six games. If the chance presents itself, we’ll be there."
Joshua Kimmich (midfielder): "We were told before the game that Bürki often stands off his line. That was the best goal of my career - it was so important. We have a good lead over Dortmund. It’ll be tough for them mentally now."
Hansi Flick (head coach): "I said in the past that I’m not the kind of person that looks too far into the future - I’m about the here and now. We wanted to take a big step in the right direction, and that’s what we did. I’m very happy with the performance: focussed, resolute, switched on and courageous."
Thomas Müller (forward): "Alphonso Davies is a player with a lot of heart and a lot of power, extreme power. Sometimes he is perhaps not in the best position. He has the opponent thinking 'I have time', but then, meep, meep meep, the roadrunner, the FC Bayern roadrunner, comes ahead and steals the ball. As a team it was a great performance, perhaps not with the ball, but with the heart. That’s the most important. When Josu did this chip, I think there was a long hang-time, but I had a good feeling. Roman Bürki is a great keeper: perhaps he doesn’t have the longest arms, so with the one or two steps [off his line] he tries to have a better angle, and Josu saw that. It was a beautiful goal. There were missed chances, but a lot of work and a lot of passion. We talked a lot about this being our most important game, and maybe the decider, and we won it. We have to go forward, but it’s a great feeling and it looks better than before."
Watch: Thomas Müller on Alphonso Davies, aka "Bayern's roadrunner"
Alphonso Davies (left-back): "Obviously being a young player I get caught out of position a lot and I’m happy to have the speed I have. That’s a factor in my game that I use very well, but I think over the years going forward with this team I will definitely learn more about my position, better positioning so it doesn’t look like I’m out of position just running back as fast as I can to catch up."
Watch: Alphonso Davies targets improvement
Manuel Neuer (goalkeeper): "You’re always right up for games against Dortmund. It was an important statement and a really important win for us."
Related news
Leverkusen back in title race
The defending champions surged back into the race to retain their Bundesliga crown on Matchday 14, narrowing the gap behind Bayern to just four points.
How do Bayern and Leipzig stack up?
Bayern take on recent rivals Leipzig in their final game before the winter break. The record champions vs. the young pretenders - how do they compare?
Felix Nmecha: "We'll keep fighting"
The Germany international spoke to bundesliga.com about his evolving role, Nuri Şahin and Dortmund's aims for the rest of the season...