That's how to win a big game! Bayern made up ground in the battle for top spot in the Bundesliga on Sunday evening with a strong 5-0 victory over SC Freiburg, leapfrogging them in the process in the league. "We showed from the first to the last minute who's boss here," said Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, the scorer of the second goal. Coach Julian Nagelsmann agreed: "I am very proud of the team because they played really well and deserved to win by that margin." Reaction below.
Reaction from the Bayern camp:
Julian Nagelsmann: "The boys all played brilliantly, even the guys who came into the team. Everyone was super focused right from the off. I am very proud of the team because they played well and deserved to win by that margin. We had great chances, were relaxed and calm throughout. We knew Freiburg are most prolific in the first 15 minutes after the break. Instead of them scoring, we scored twice during that period, and we didn't have the lapses in concentration that we had against Dortmund last week. We kept it up throughout. That was the plan and it was executed by the boys to perfection."
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting: "I am super happy that I started and that we all played well. We showed who was boss throughout and it was great fun. Great goals, very nice moves that we finished off too. Personally I am happy with my goal, my assist and the way we played. We have to build on this."
Serge Gnabry: "It felt very good to produce a performance like that. It was an important signal of intent from us after a few tough weeks - and this is how we want to carry on now. We want to win every one of our games now. We dropped a few points unnecessarily, so we know the pressure is on. We want to pick up every available point up until the World Cup."
Reaction from the Freiburg camp:
Christian Streich (SC Freiburg head coach): "We had no chance today because Bayern were mentally quicker out there. We just didn't have the gas to keep up with them, which is why we lost. We'll forget this, go home and think about the next game. We weren't good enough today, the players weren't, I wasn't. We tried to go for it - that was probably the wrong idea. But hindsight is a wonderful thing."
Christian Günter (SC Freiburg captain): "The speed Bayern have in the middle, especially with Leroy Sané, is of course just so difficult to defend. They have incredible quality there. We didn't manage to defend that. Overall, Bayern were simply the better team, and you have to acknowledge that today. Everyone gave their all, you can't fault the team's effort. Obviously the margin of victory annoys us, it was a bit too high."
Nicolas Höfler (SC Freiburg): "We didn't bring the energy onto the pitch today that has been our USP all season. We were not compact enough, it was an off day. At the end of the day, we deserved to lose by that amount. Bayern were there and fully motivated, as you have to be in a top-of-the-table clash. Everyone knows that they have real quality on the ball and we didn't manage to stop them."
The match report:
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