RB Leipzig beat Werder Bremen 3-0 on Saturday, taking the lead in the Bundesliga overnight, but Bayern gave the right answer and reclaimed top spot. Munich never left any doubt as to who would leave the pitch as winners, at times outplaying FC Köln in the 4-1 win, their fourth away victory in a row. "We turned in a superb display in the first half. It was a feast for the eyes," said Thomas Müller. Bayern all but put the game to bed in the first half. "We could have scored up to ten goals today," added captain Manuel Neuer.
Reaction to Köln v Bayern
Hansi Flick: "We played very well in the first half. We're very satisfied with our performance. I'm annoyed by the second half, our display wasn't as serious as before."
Manuel Neuer: "Nobody had expected we'd get off to such a start. We had expected Köln to fight harder. We also made ruthless use of our early chances, we finished them really well. We could have scored up to ten goals. Obviously we'll never take all our chances, but a higher scoreline would have been absolutely possible."
Thomas Müller: "We turned in a superb display in the first half. It was a feast for the eyes! We were extremely efficient in the first ten minutes but unfortunately less so after that. And then we eased off again, we’ve seen it over the last few matches: we rest on our laurels, not everyone takes part any more. Manu made outstanding saves. But we must absolutely remedy this behaviour against Chelsea."
Serge Gnabry: "We squandered a lot of chances in the second half. But we have three more points, we're all happy. But Köln had some opportunities too. Manuel Neuer made two or three world-class saves, so both teams could have scored some more goals."
Serge Gnabry bagged a brace in his 50th Bundesliga match for FC Bayern:
Timo Horn (1. FC Köln): "We were completely asleep in the first few minutes, we mustn't let that happen. Bayern wanted to close it out as soon as possible, as they did away to Mainz. They really stormed us, we failed to involve them in one-on-ones. We conceded the first goal straight away and then the next one. It's hard to bounce back against a world-class team then."
Mark Uth (1. FC Köln): "It was hard to get hold of Bayern, especially in midfield. It felt like they had two men over, it was difficult. They made ruthless use of their chances in the first half, so we just chased them for 90 minutes. We must forget the first half. We played very well in the second half."
Reds ease past Köln: the match report
Topics of this article