Guardiola proud after Bayern start defence in style
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
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Josep Guardiola was proud of FC Bayern München after they opened their title defence in style against a PFC CSKA Moskva side who were second best according to Leonid Slutski.
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Josep Guardiola, Bayern coach
I am very satisfied with the performance. Especially our first-half display was very pleasing. I am proud of this team. The first game after winning the Champions League is never easy. Everyone always thinks it is easy, but it is not. The style we play is Bayern's style, not mine. I am here to support my new players and I am very proud of them today. Philipp [Lahm] helped us today. His performance [as a defensive midfielder] was a surprise. He won the ball back and spread the play well. We played better in the middle.
Leonid Slutski, CSKA coach
Bayern were stronger – their superiority was clear throughout. If we had avoided an early goal we probably could have tried to get something from the match and looked for opportunities on the break. Our prospects were not very attractive before kick-off, but the early goal made our situation all the more difficult.
We knew how Bayern would play, but that doesn't mean we knew how to stop them. They pressed effectively and didn't allow us to use the empty spaces. The game went just as we thought it would, but we had no chances to build on the counterattack.
It was useful to test ourselves in a match against the best team in the world at the moment. This game highlighted many aspects of our play that we don't see in the domestic league.