Douglas Costa's sumptuous long-range effort was the touch of individual quality that separated the sides in FC Bayern's narrow 1-0 victory over Darmstadt on Sunday. "It was a difficult match," a relieved Carlo Ancelotti commented afterwards. Manuel Neuer felt that the German record champions did not have their best day. But the main thing is: "We've taken three crucial points."
Reaction to Darmstadt v Bayern
Carlo Ancelotti: "It was a difficult match, Darmstadt defended very well. We weren't quick enough in the first half, it was a bit better in the second. At the end of the day the most important thing is that we've won and remain at the top. I'm satisfied with that. But we can play better, faster. We'll give it everything and try to win against Leipzig on Wednesday."
Manuel Neuer: "We're relieved of course, we've taken three crucial points. Our display in the first half in particular wasn't typical of FC Bayern. We didn't have the pace and precision, we lacked all that today."
Mats Hummels: "It wasn't easy to deliver precise passes against deep-lying opponents who were defending aggressively. We made it difficult for ourselves in some situations with bad first passes out of defence. That's just how it is in Darmstadt. Reflecting on the matches I've seen, brilliant football has never won any matches here. You have to fight here, you have to work here, and we did just that."
Ramon Berndroth (Darmstadt coach): "Our goal was to play so that our fans could be proud of us afterwards. We succeeded at that. But as a passionate coach you want to take points of course. We made it really difficult for Bayern, but they have top players in all positions. This wonderful yet awful goal broke our resistance. It looked lucky, but it actually took skill."
Peter Niemeyer (Darmstadt): "We were courageous and hit the gas. Unfortunately we lost due to a lucky goal, appropriate for this Sunday. My chance will haunt me in my dreams tonight, I should have opted for the other corner. Nobody expected us to win. We'll soon face opponents we can take points from."
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