Bayern warmed up for Tuesday’s Champions League opener at home to CSKA Moscow with an ultimately deserved 2-0 victory over Hannover, although the visitors from Lower Saxony “put up a very good fight and played well,” Toni Kroos acknowledged. However, there was only one really important aspect to the afternoon, as Franck Ribéry confirmed: “At the end of the day we’ve won, and that was important!”
Reaction to Bayern v Hannover:
Pep Guardiola: “All the teams in the Bundesliga are very, very good, as Hannover proved today. We were a little risk-averse in the first half. In the second half, we played better after the opening goal from Mario Mandzukic. Now we’re looking forward to the Champions League.”
Franck Ribéry: “We didn’t do very well in the first half. It's always difficult after an international break. It was a lot better in the second half - we had more energy, our movement was better, and we scored the goals. At the end of the day we’ve won, and that was important!”
David Alaba: “The second half was much better than the first. We found it difficult to get going, but at the end of the day we deserved the win.”
Toni Kroos: “We know it’s never easy after an international break. Lots of players have been away and played two matches. Hannover put up a very good fight and played well. We knew we had to shift up a gear in the second half. It's what we swore to do, and we did it successfully. We deserved the win by the end.”
Mirko Slomka (Hannover coach): “We did a very good job and we were courageous. But if you want to take anything from it, you have to score. We weren’t effective enough today in that respect. Even for the visiting coach, Bayern’s first goal was mouth-watering, it was a first-class move.”
Lars Stindl (Hannover): “Bayern boast unbelievable quality, but we still had one or two dangerous situations where we should have scored. We were a bit short on luck. Bayern played better and better as the game went on, and at the end of the day, they deserved to win.”
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