Reaction to Hoffenheim match - Christoph Freund: 'It was fun tonight'

Two matches, two wins! It couldn’t have been a better start to the new year for FC Bayern. Following on from the 1-0 victory at Gladbach, the German record champions gave TSG Hoffenheim no chance on Wednesday evening as they ran out 5-0 winners at the Allianz Arena. “Overall I’m pleased with the performance,” said head coach Vincent Kompany. “And as ever, I have to praise the boys’ mentality. We defended aggressively and played well.” Two-goal hero Leroy Sané could only add to that: “I think we sent out a clear signal for the season again today. It’s great fun and I think the fans notice that too.” fcbayern.com has compiled the post-match reaction.

The reaction to the Hoffenheim match

Christoph Freund (sporting director): “I’m very pleased. We showed a lot of joy, it was fun tonight. It was a really nice evening of football for us. I think once this team get going, like they did tonight, when the first two shots went in, then it’s obviously fun and everything comes much more easily. But you can see that the boys are enjoying themselves and there’s great energy on the pitch. It’s been a very good start to 2025 – couldn’t have been better.”

Vincent Kompany: “Overall I’m pleased with the performance. And as ever, I have to praise the boys’ mentality. We defended aggressively and played well, they didn’t need a big talk – now it’s just about carrying on. Obviously, you don’t win points with words but we started this year with a 6-0 win at Red Bull Salzburg, which I think is good. It shows how hungry we are and we have to keep hold of that. The next game is three days away and I’m already looking forward to it.”

Leroy Sané: “We just have to keep going now. I think we sent out a clear signal for the season again today. It’s great fun and I think the fans notice that too. Obviously, at the start we always have to find the right rhythm. We want to apply pressure straight away and not let the opposition into the game at all. We know what our strength is and that’s exactly what we want to keep demonstrating on the pitch. The mood in the team is great and we just want to keep going.”

The reaction from the Hoffenheim camp

Christian Ilzer (coach): “Congratulations on a highly deserved win. It can happen that you lose 5-0 here but we need to talk thoroughly about the manner of it. We’re not at Bayern Munich’s level at the moment. The defeat still hurts but we mustn’t destroy each other now if we’re to come out of this situation good and healthy.”

Dennis Geiger (midfielder): “The way we conceded the goals annoys me. We made it far too easy for Bayern. Everything’s lacking with us at the moment. It’s just not going our way and we have to battle against that. We’re right in the relegation battle. I hope we show a different side on Saturday.”

Kevin Akpoguma (defender): “We deserved to lose. Bayern are title hopefuls. We didn’t show the things you need to show against a team like this on the pitch today. We made it hard for ourselves at the end because in the second half we again conceded the goals too early. We need to put this behind us quickly and focus on Saturday.”

The match report: