Van Gaal reflects on Bayern comeback

FC Bayern München coach Louis van Gaal was a relieved man after his side came from behind to win 2-1 at FC Basel 1893 thanks to a late Bastian Schweinsteiger goal that moved them onto six Group E points. Thorsten Fink identified Bayern's belief and Schweinsteiger's mental strength as Basel's undoing.

Thorsten Fink, Basel coach
Bayern believed in themselves and in their ability to win and therefore they scored the winner. It's typical that Schweinsteiger scored the goal because he is mentally very strong. It's a shame that we lost so close to the finish as I made a substitution to eat up time and to save the point. I'm very disappointed.

We have a great team, we played excellently and embarrassed Bayern, and we our opportunities. Of course we knew Bayern were favourites, we could not take our half-chances, but we had a great match. We go out with our heads held high because we put on a great performance and had some chances. And we still have a chance to get second place, it will be more difficult, but it's realistic to play in the Europa League and that's what we will try to do.

Louis van Gaal, Bayern coach
We started very well but the first time they crossed the halfway line we conceded a goal. We could see that the confidence was not high and after that we played very badly in the first half. In the second half I changed my team to create more power and it worked. Although we were 1-0 down we exerted a lot of pressure in this difficult period and we won.

We have six points and therefore I'm very happy. Looking towards the Bundesliga, I can, for the first time, give my players a rest day on Thursday. It's good to have a little bit of relaxation and to switch off from football. Then, maybe, we will manage to surprise people and win at Dortmund [on Sunday].