The coach was delighted with the way his players bounced back from Champions League defeat to Porto by seeing off Hoffenheim to take them a step closer to the Bundesliga title
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola says he is proud of the way his side bounced back from their Champions League disappointment to see off Hoffenheim 2-0 at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena on Saturday.
The reigning German champions suffered a shock 3-1 reverse to Porto on Wednesday, leaving them facing a tough return leg to secure a European semi-final.
And Guardiola says his injury-ravaged side had to battle fatigue in the second half as they claimed their ninth victory in their last ten league outings.
“We played in the first half, showing great control,” Guardiola said.
“The second half was very complicated, our legs were tired. I am very proud of my players. Now next Tuesday we have a very important game in the Champions League. Of course it will be hard, but that’s a big goal for us.”
Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Javi Martinez and Mehdi Benatia were once again amongst a long list of high profile absentees as Bayern struggle to deal with a long list of injuries, but Guardiola was delighted with the impact of man-of-the-match Sebastian Rode.
The 24-year-old opened the scoring and no Bayern player ran more than his 12.1 kilometres. He played 87 passes, with an accuracy of 93%, and only Rafinha (139) bettered his total of 109 touches.
“For me it has been a huge amount of fun,” Rode said.
“I played from the start and scored a goal – which is of course twice as nice. Most important are the three points and the good feeling for Tuesday.”
Philipp Lahm sat out after suffering a stomach bug while Guardiola rested Jerome Boateng, Xabi Alonso and Thiago.
The victory leaves Bayern 13 points clear of second-placed Wolfsburg, who host Schalke on Sunday.