Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben has admitted that he has not fully recovered from his muscle injury that kept him out for six weeks, despite featuring in his side’s last two games.
The Netherlands international captained Jupp Heynckes’ side in their 4-0 DFB-Pokal win over Kaiserslauten, scoring twice as well as creating Claudio Pizarro’s opener in an impressive performance.
The 28-year-old admitted that he enjoyed leading the team at the Allianz Arena, but also explained that he is not yet properly match-fit after his lay-off.
“I didn’t do much different to usual, but of course it was nice to be captain. That made me proud. However, we all achieved this win together and it wasn’t easy,” he told Bundesliga.com.
“A 4-0 might look comprehensive, but we played with a team which hardly had any match practice and wasn’t used to playing together.
“Such a performance doesn’t just happen, so I’m very proud of the lads because they did a really good job.
“I was a bit surprised myself because I felt good, but I’m not 100 per cent yet. There’s still a bit of room for improvement, but that’s normal after not playing for many weeks. It all comes back by playing games.”
Bayern saw their unbeaten start to the season ended by Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday, and Robben admitted that Die Roten must stay focussed if they are to regain the league title from Borussia Dortmund.
“Before the Kaiserslautern game, we did talk about it a lot, but that’s normal. You’ve just got to keep your cool, but that doesn’t mean sit back and relax.
“We’ve got to stay alert because we can’t afford to drop any more points now.”