Robben impressed by rampant Bayern
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Article summary
Arjen Robben said a tactical tweak was key to FC Bayern München's emphatic victory at AS Roma, whose coach Rudi Garcia took responsibility for the defeat.
Article top media content
Article body
• Arjen Robben says Bayern "controlled the game and dominated"
• Coach Josep Guardiola still finds room for improvement despite the 7-1 win in Rome
• Unconvinced by scoreline: "Today is like an accident"
• Roma coach Rudi Garcia takes the blame for a "tactical disaster"
• Next games: Bayern v Roma (5 November)
Arjen Robben, Bayern forward
Afterwards it's always easy to talk. I'm still convinced Roma have a very good team – they've shown that this season – but we should pay a big compliment to us, to all the players, but also to the coaching staff who prepared this game in the way we played, the way we created chances and scored goals. There were some great goals tonight.
We played a little different tonight. Everybody has seen it, but it's not good to talk about our tactics and how we want to play. Everybody can see it and watch the match to analyse us. But a big compliment to the team and the tactics.
I've never really experienced anything like this, especially not against a good team because Roma have a great team. They started well – they started here against [PFC CSKA] Moskva very, very easy, they drew in Manchester – so we expected a very tough game, but we really controlled the game and dominated. They had no answer to our attacking football so the game was very quickly decided and after it was 3-0, for them it was getting more and more difficult. They were disappointed, their heads went down and we used the space.
Philipp Lahm, Bayern midfielder
The coach and the coaching team set us up really well for our opponents. We knew what we were up against, how to defend against them and performances like tonight's are the result of that.
You always want to keep your focus after leading at half-time, but it's only human to ease off a bit. We were 5-0 up and in control, so we could take it a bit easier.
This was a huge step in the right direction because City were held 2-2 [at CSKA], but we're not through yet. We need to win again in a few weeks and then things look really good.
Thomas Müller, Bayern forward
We've built up a good head of steam. Of course you hope for games like this to happen and to find plenty of gaps up front, and it worked fantastically.
Josep Guardiola, Bayern coach
My team have the ability to make decisive moves in a second and this is very important, but that is not to say this was the perfect match. The first few minutes were not so perfect, and Roma played very good football in the second half. However, we are obviously happy with this result and the fact that we are very close to qualifying.
In the second half we allowed Daniele De Rossi and Miralem Pjanić to get the ball to Gervinho and Juan Manuel Iturbe, who created two or three dangerous chances that we blocked thanks to Manuel Neuer. The result was clear, but we have to keep passing the ball, and we did not in that phase of the game.
My Bayern are different to my Barcelona; but both are great teams with two great properties – they let me do what I believe in and put my thoughts into action.
If you let them play, Roma are very dangerous. We will play against Roma in two weeks and it will be a different game: today is like an accident. The result is not a measure of the difference in quality between us and them.
Rudi Garcia, Roma coach
It was a tactical disaster. We let Bayern play and they're a very strong team. It was my mistake, not the players'. Losing against Bayern is always a possibility, because they win almost every game they play, but doing so like this really hurts. We were below par when we had to be on top form. The responsibility is mine because I had the wrong attitude and strategy. The only good thing is that there was a draw in Moscow in the other game so we are still second – everything is still possible.
We defended very badly. They scored after nine minutes and everything was easier for them. In the second half we had chances, but they showed that they have not only the best team in the world but also the best goalkeeper. I'm disappointed by the two goals they scored at the end. In the second half we showed that we have pride, but only that. After this evening, however, our confidence must not collapse. We have to believe in ourselves and must learn from this defeat.
We were spectators tonight and we have to change that because in two weeks we go to Munich. My players don't deserve a defeat like this and we must try to get to their level, step by step.
Miralem Pjanić, Roma midfielder
It's really difficult to explain a result like this. We started badly and conceded two quick goals. Bayern pressed us for 90 minutes, didn't leave us any room and we just lost possession too often without managing to keep hold of the ball. It was hard and we weren't able to impose our game.
We're particularly sorry for our fans because so many of them came tonight. We wanted to get a good result and we were convinced we could get something, but we got it wrong tonight. We've got to forget this game as quickly as possible.
It doesn't happen often [to be 4-0 down after half an hour]. In fact, it never happens. We need to try to concede as few as we can and be tighter at the back but we were up against a very strong side and they had a lot of possession. It was hard to do anything but fight and maybe get a goal if we could. We just didn't play our game tonight.
Daniele De Rossi, Roma midfielder
It was a huge defeat for us and it's no coincidence. We've got to try to find the positives that could help us in future. I'm not saying we've got to rethink everything, but there's certainly a lot of work to be done.
This doesn't change anything about our value. This was a game the whole city had been waiting for and it's a shame we weren't able to give our fans the result they wanted. It really makes your heart bleed to see the way they applauded us at the end. They're always close to us and the season could potentially still bring a lot of satisfaction.
Certainly we will do better. We can get something from all the other games, apart from Bayern. We still have a good chance of going through, but the physical difference really shocked me. It's still all to play for in this group. We've taken a beating like this in the past, but we still managed to move on and compete. Let's hope it's not the same story again in a fortnight.