Festival atmosphere in Munich, celebrations in Sinsheim: on the opening day of Oktoberfest, FC Bayern continued their impressive form with a strong performance and a 4-1 win at TSG Hoffenheim. With enthusiasm, dominance and efficient finishing in the second half, the Bavarians deservedly took home the three points and ensured suitably high spirits.
“When the first half isn’t perfect, it’s important that we show a reaction – we did that. We immediately came out better in the second half,” said head coach Vincent Kompany. Defender Jonathan Tah also praised the team’s second-half display: “We were at it from the start, took control of the game more and ultimately deserved to win.” fcbayern.com has compiled the rest of the post-match reaction.
The reaction to the match at Hoffenheim
Vincent Kompany: “Hoffenheim were better in the first half. They won the tackles and did almost everything right. When the first half isn’t perfect, it’s important that we show a reaction – we did that. We immediately came out better in the second half and accepted that it wasn’t good enough in the first half.”
Harry Kane: “It was a good game for us. The first half was tough, we looked a bit tired but we got the first goal shortly before half-time – an important goal. You can’t play perfectly in every match, there’ll always be phases when the opponents get chances. Then you have to defend well, which we did. The second half was more like us: the way we moved the ball, how we pressed with and without the ball. We upped the level, increased the intensity, which made it hard for them. The goals again came at the right time. We got the win in the end. It’s nice to have scored again and helped the team.”
Jonathan Tah: “We didn’t really find the rhythm for our game. Hoffenheim did well and we obviously weren’t happy. But we immediately showed the right reaction in the second half, we were at it from the start, took control of the game more and ultimately deserved to win.”
Reaction from the Hoffenheim camp
Christian Ilzer (head coach): “It was a clear result in the end because of the second half. At the end of the day, we’ve lost a match – every defeat hurts. That doesn’t mean we didn’t play well. We started very well and caused Bayern Munich problems. You have to convert those few moments you get into goals, which we didn’t manage to do. We played against by far the best team in Germany today.”
Oliver Baumann (captain): ”We were generally very brave but at the end we just couldn’t get up the pitch – they penned us in. We were well in it in the first half, though, and actually should’ve taken the lead. Then the sheer individual quality comes into it. In the second half they brought on fresh legs, we know them – and then it comes even harder.”
Fisnik Asllani (forward): “The 4-1 loss hurts because we put in a really good performance in the first half. Often the final pass was lacking or the decision-making wasn’t the best, but we can take a lot from the game. We saw again what tremendous quality Harry Kane has. During a period in which Bayern weren’t on top, he gets one ball and sticks it in. That shows what a world-class striker he is.”
The match report:
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