For a player in a team sport, like Manuel Neuer, it is of course best when everything goes well in defence. If the opposition have no chances, if the goalkeeper just has to direct play, when everything is on autopilot. But from time to time it can get more interesting for a goalkeeper - especially when the match ends with a win, just as it did on Saturday against Ingolstadt. "We had a few problems, but I was able to show that I'm in form," said Neuer with a smile.
While the Germany captain was a little unlucky with the opening goal from Dario Lezcano ("The ball somehow got through"), nothing else got past the "best keeper in the world", as Carlo Ancelotti called him. His save in particular against Mathew Leckie in the 53rd minute astounded fans in the ground and around the world watching on TV.
"It was important at the time," remembers Neuer. "Leckie had the ball on his strong foot. I knew that I had to unsettle him and stay big. And in the end it was just a simple reflex reaction." Just by chance, he had been working on that sort of reflex movement in training with Toni Tapalovic, revealed the 30-year-old. "It definitely helped." However, he will be hoping for a more relaxed time in the matches to come.
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