Flick hails 'very successful day'

Hansi Flick reflected on a "very successful day" after Bayern Munich dismantled Schalke to capitalise on Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig's defeat earlier on Saturday.

Defending champions Bayern won 5-0 at home to move within a point of Leipzig, who were beaten 2-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt. Head coach Flick was delighted with the way his side disrupted Schalke, a side also on the fringes of the title picture in fifth place. Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Leon Goretzka, Thiago Alcantara and Serge Gnabry were all on target.

"That was very good," Flick said. "Schalke were really impressive in the first game [of 2020] against Gladbach. But we play here at home and wanted to play our game, our philosophy. We wanted to disrupt the opponent early, put pressure on them early with a high intensity. We did this very well, especially in the first half.

 

January 25, 2020

"It was crucial that we got the three points. This must give us even more confidence. The quality in the squad is excellent, and if I can then lift them as I did here, I am very satisfied. It was, of course, a very successful day for us."

Muller, who scored his 100th goal at Allianz Arena, suggested Bayern were motivated by Leipzig's defeat.

"After the Leipzig result, we might have had a little more," he said. "Usually, there is only the 100 per cent - today there was maybe two or three per cent on top. Like against Dortmund [a 4-0 home win in November], we didn't want to give Schalke space. We are very happy with the game. We played well as a team."