Bundesliga champions FC Bayern Munich were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw against Schalke 04 in their first home game of 2017. The result was not considered good enough for the high standards of Bayern, and Manuel Neuer is fully aware of that.
� Game over! A frustrating day at the #AllianzArena. The boys tried and tried, but couldn't break @s04_en's resistance. #FCBS04 1-1 pic.twitter.com/ypnzws30kM
The 2014 World Cup winner spoke withDFB.deabout the Schalke game and the upcoming challenges in the DFB Cup and the Champions League:
Question: "Mr. Neuer, you have a busy few weeks coming up and you would have expected to get them off to a different start, correct?"
Manuel Neuer: "Yes, definitely. Especially the way we played in the first half. Sure, we score a great goal but afterwards we allowed far too many chances. We positioned ourselves too far from one another and thus were not compact enough."
Question: "How are you going to be able to turn the switch for the DFB Cup round of 16 encounter with VfL Wolfsburg on Tuesday and for the Champions League clash with Arsenal?"
Neuer: "Ahead of the Schalke game we told ourselves that we wanted to play with more pace, especially at home. We want to circulate the ball in possession and make few mistakes going forward. We wanted to show better positioning, in order to have a lot of options when playing a pass. That was missing a bit, but we want to improve in that regard in the next few games."
Question: "Do you accept any blame for Naldo's equaliser that sneaked through the wall?"
Neuer: "It was not the wall's fault. Rafinha is the player who charges for the ball and he did well. I told him to stand there but the problem was that the shot hit the ground but did not really bounce back up. I expected the ball to be higher, because normally it would bounce back up a bit. That is where I had my hands and I would have been there, but I just misjudged the flight of the ball."
Question: "What do you expect from Tuesday's DFB Cup encounter with VfL Wolfsburg?"
Neuer: "We cannot expect to keep playing like this. We have to start considering what type of football we are playing here. Obviously we will aim to secure a win, but we will have to work really hard in order to reach the next round."
Question: "What do you say to Philipp Lahm, who made his 500th competitive appearance for Bayern today?"
Neuer: "I am very happy for Philipp. He has achieved great things in German football and for Bayern Munich as well, of course. I hope that he will add many more appearances to his tally."
Philipp Lahm has made his 500th appearance for Bayern�; if you don't know how brilliant he is, see this: https://t.co/36XqZFObUn pic.twitter.com/H5JGrmfOph
Question: "How did you like Holger Badstuber playing for a different club?"
Neuer: "I am happy for him. It was big step for him to make his first competitive appearance for Schalke. And I obviously hope that he will make many more appearances for them. I think he put on a really good performance and had a great debut."