Thomas Müller did not want to comment on the match after the final whistle. "Now is the time to enjoy it," he said, his only words after the victory. The native Bavarian left the Allianz Arena grinning from ear to ear, and after all, he had answered any number of questions out on the pitch. Two minutes after coming on he received the ball in the Arsenal box, and after a feint to the right his left-foot shot found the left corner of the net, sealing the final 5-1 scoreline against the Gunners. Müller loudly gave vent to his joy as Jérôme Boateng tweeted from the stands: "He's back!"
"The goal today was important for him personally," Robert Lewandowski said about his fellow forward, whose goal tally has been below-par so far this term. Against Arsenal, Müller scored his fourth goal of the season, and his third in the Champions League. "He always keeps going, and how he works is incredible," revealed Lewandowski, convinced that "it's only a matter of time before he's back at 100 percent."
Carlo Ancelotti is "optimistic" regarding Müller's future. "I think he's made the breakthrough, I'm very happy about it," said the FCB head coach: "He's trained very well. He's deserved the goal. I'm sure he'll be important for us in the future."
"Thomas is Thomas."
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Müller's goal ultimately came as no big surprise, especially as Arsenal seem to be the world champion's favourite opponents. Müller has scored more Champions League goals against the Gunners than against any other club, namely five in seven matches. Müller is the leading German scorer in the Champions League on 39 goals. "Thomas is Thomas. His importance to us is enormous. Slowly but surely he's approaching good form again," commented Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who like Müller has scored 39 goals on the European stage.
The crowd, his team-mates, the coaching staff: everybody was happy to see Müller find the net against Arsenal. "Everyone was delighted for Thomas. We know how valuable he is for us," said captain Philipp Lahm: "We know how he works in training day after day, how he spurs on the team out on the pitch, how he motivates the players." The Bavarians are keeping their fingers crossed for Thomas to just keep scoring.
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