Reaction to opening game against RB Leipzig – Leon Goretzka: ‘A perfect start’

Bayern ensured a party atmosphere inside the Allianz Arena to kick off the new Bundesliga season as 75,000 fans watched the defending champions hit six goals past RB Leipzig in a scintillating opening victory. “It was a perfect start,” summarised Leon Goretzka afterwards. “When the team gets on a roll, they really get on a roll,” he added. Head coach Vincent Kompany was in agreement when he said, “The energy and enjoyment were there. I hope the fans enjoyed it. That’s why we play football. It was a really great evening.” fcbayern.com rounds up the reaction to Friday’s opening 6-0 win in Munich.

Reaction to Bundesliga game against RB Leipzig

Vincent Kompany: “The energy and enjoyment were there. I hope the fans enjoyed it. That’s why we play football. It was a really great evening at the Allianz Arena. We spoke about three issues, but that’ll stay among us in the changing room. There were lots of questions before the game, and we answered them on the pitch. We remained calm, focused on the game and having our energy on the game. The foundation was there. The guys have worked as if they’ve not won anything yet. If we keep that up, we’ll win a lot of games. But it’s just one game we’ve won here. Now we move on with the cup on Wednesday.”

Joshua Kimmich: “It was a very good start, not just in terms of the result but also the way we played. We kept the energy high. We weren’t as hungry at the start of the second half, but we switched it on again with the counter for the fourth goal. It’s a big difference to previous seasons. You feel like we’ve started with a foundation. Even though we haven’t had a long pre-season, you can see that we’ve got some rhythm to our play. A 6-0 win is a real statement. The good but also the difficult thing in football is that you need to back that up every three days. We start from 0-0 again on Wednesday.”

Harry Kane: “It was definitely a very good game. We wanted to make a statement from the start, getting to play first at home in the Bundesliga, and I think we did that. The performance from everyone – from back to front – was at a very high level, and we were clinical in front of goal. You can’t really complain with a 6-0 win. Now we’ll turn to the next job. At half-time, at 3-0, I said to myself I need to get on the scoresheet, so it was nice to add a few goals in the second half.”

Leon Goretzka: “I definitely wouldn’t say the opposition were bad. I think we gave our all. It’s a thankless task having to play first up here at the Allianz Arena. We just did really well today. It was a perfect start. When the team gets on a roll, they really get on a roll. Then the stadium joins in, the fans join in. You saw today that we were really hungry in our work against the ball. We had a lot of high turnovers of possession, and then you can quickly get at the opposition goal.”

Jonathan Tah: “We started the game really well, maintained our focus throughout and remained hungry. The most important thing is that we focus on ourselves and what happens on the pitch. We showed today that we’re ready, no matter what comes. I feel very good here and am really enjoying myself.”

Reaction from RB Leipzig

Marcel Schäfer (managing director for sport): “We obviously knew how tough a game this would be. But the first half in particular was brutally disappointing for us. Bayern have incredible quality. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but the scoreline was ultimately also deserved.”

Ole Werner (head coach): “Disappointing. Definitely a disastrous performance. We didn’t manage to play as a team. We defended well at the start but couldn’t create enough relief. The goals we conceded were too simple. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”

David Raum (captain): “It was a catastrophe, the worst-case scenario. We had big plans, and things were fine at the start, but it was then just blow after blow. What can’t happen is that we fall apart like we did in the second half. We lost too many one-v-ones. You don’t get much in Munich like that.”

Nicolas Seiwald (midfielder): “We saw today what we need to work on, how much we’re lacking and that we can’t really restrict Bayern. We’re sort of playing halfway football right now – no real pressure up front but also not sitting back. That allowed Bayern to play their game, even if we defended well at times.”

Read more about the game in our report: