FC Bayern Munchen News

The Bayern Munich midfielder was forced to sit out his side’s 1-0 win over Frankfurt on Saturday and the club’s sporting director has slammed the RFEF

Matthias Sammer has hit out at the Spanish Football Federation after Javi Martinez was unable to feature for Bayern Munich on Saturday.

Die Roten had to make do without the 24-year-old midfielder as they edged to a 1-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt thanks to Mario Mandzukic’s early strike.

Martinez did not travel with the squad, deemed unfit after flying back late from Spain’s 2-0 win over Ecuador on Wednesday, and Sammer was highly critical of how the Spain camp treated the Bayern player.

“Javi came back in a state,” 45-year-old German fumed.

“I have absolutely no sympathy for the Spanish Association. This is an outrage for the player. These players are glad and happy to work for [their national team].

“But what is expected of them is an outrage. Javi was completely empty. Therefore, the coach did not take him [to Frankfurt].”

Sammer went on to call on national team federations to communicate better with clubs in order to avoid a repeat of the incident.

“Communication is a disaster,” he continued.

“Invitations to the internationals come too late. And then we also learn quite late, when our players come back. How can you deal with that!”

The Dutchman was thrilled his side were able to grind out a result after the tiring international break, although Toni Kroos feels they should have won more comfortably

Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben admits his side struggled for top form during their 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

Mario Mandzukic put the Bavarians in charge early on, but Pep Guardiola’s men failed to build on their lead as they laboured in front of the opposition goal, and Robben believes the victory was crucial given the exploits of a number of players during the international break.

“The games when players come back from international duty are always difficult,” the 29-year-old told AZ.

“One’s travelling from South America, one from Asia, but they can only train on Thursday, then just a bit on Friday.

“The players had a little break, but the ones you notice are the ones who aren’t at 100 per cent. But you have to go on, and wanting to win a game is a mental thing.

“At the start, the most important thing is to win games. A 1-0 is always tight. We had enough opportunities to make it 2-0. If you don’t, then it stays tight until the end.”

Toni Kroos was also thrilled at the result, but acknowledges his side could well have been made to pay for their profligacy.

“We all know it’s never easy in Frankfurt, because they’re a very good team,” he told the club’s official website.

“However, we still dominated the game for the full 90 minutes. We let them have very few chances, but we have to point the finger at ourselves for not wrapping it up much earlier.

“It would have been a lot calmer at the end.”

Schalke suffered a second-half meltdown against Wolfsburg while Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen recorded wins

Eintract Frankfurt remain rooted to the bottom of the Bundesliga after a narrow 1-0 defeat to champions Bayern Munich on Saturday.

Mario Mandzukic’s goal after 13 minutes was enough to ensure Pep Guardiola’s men kept up their winning start to the season at the Commerzbank-Arena having beaten Borussia Monchengladbach in their first game. 

However, the result leaves Frankfurt propping up the table on goal difference after their 6-1 thumping at the hands of Hertha Berlin in their opener.

Leverkusen also enjoyed a 1-0 win but needed a first-half own goal from Daniel Schwaab to secure all three points at Stuttgart and move them joint-top with Bayern. 

Braces from Roberto Firmino and Anthony Modeste helped Hoffenheim to a 5-1 victory over Hamburg, and that emphatic scoreline was enough to push Markus Gisdol’s fifth in the table – two points behind Werder Bremen, who also gained three points.

Mehmet Ekici’s goal after 23 minutes was enough to give them the win against Augsburg, who remain in 17th place without a win or a goal so far in 2013-14. 

Elsewhere, Schalke’s disappointing start to the season continued, as they conceded four goals in 35 second-half minutes away at Wolfsburg.

Gladbach bounced back after their opening-day defeat at the Allianz Arena to hit three past Hannover without reply. Max Kruse, Christoph Kramer and Filip Daems were the men on the scoresheet for Lucien Favre’s side. 

Meanwhile, a late Sebastian Freis goal proved insufficient for Freiburg as they slipped to their second defeat of the season, losing 2-1 at home to Mainz. 

The Roten coach was pleased with what he saw in Saturday’s win over Frankfurt, while goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is happy despite admitting they were not at their best

Pep Guardiola believes that his Bayern Munich charges are continuing to get better following their 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Roten coach, whose first away game in Bundesliga was decided by an early Mario Mandzukic volley, says he is completely satisfied with how his side performed, especially considering the game was on the back of an international window.

“Compared to last week, we are now controlling the game much better,” Guardiola told reporters after the match.

“Before, against Borussia Monchengladbach, we allowed too many mistakes, but today we were better in that aspect. It’s never easy after international matches, we only had three days to prepare.

“Despite that were ready for the occasion. I am happy and 100 per cent content.”

Manuel Neuer enjoyed a clean sheet in a competitive match for the first time this season, following a 4-2 loss to Borussia Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup and seeing Dante score an own-goal past him against Gladbach, and was happy, insisting the result was all that mattered.

“We wanted to win today away from home and achieve picking up three points,” the Bavarians’ 27-year-old goalkeeper said. “We did not want to play attractively, but to achieve victory in the second game. And that we have.”

Mario Mandzukic scored the only goal in a hard-fought victory for Bayern Munich over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

The Croat netted with a superb first-half effort as the reigning champions made it two wins from two games.

Bayern boss Pep Guardiola left new signing Mario Gotze on the bench but made one change from their victory over Borussia Monchengladbach with Xherdan Shaqiri coming in, while Stefan Aigner, Takashi Inui and Anderson all started for Frankfurt.

In front of an electric atmosphere at the Commerzbank-Arena, the early exchanges saw both sides threaten as Bayern unsurprisingly controlled possession.

David Alaba impressed down the left-hand side for the visitors, providing a number of supporting runs, and a Franck Ribery cross from that area saw Toni Kroos hit the post with a header after nine minutes.

And after a period of sustained pressure, Mandzukic spectacularly opened the scoring for the visitors with an acrobatic volley into the top corner after an accurate cross from Thomas Muller.

Frankfurt then pressed for an equaliser, but Bayern continued to dominate the midfield battle with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Toni Kroos keeping possession ticking over. Alex Meier momentarily threatened for the hosts though, but his powerful header was directed safely into Manuel Neuer’s arms.

This followed a number of great chances for Guardiola’s men to double their lead, with Muller and Dante both having golden goal-scoring opportunities. Ribery orchestrated Muller’s chance – again down the left-hand side – but the Germany international was yards away from making firm contact in the penalty area.

A fine point-blank save from goalkeeper Kevin Trapp kept Frankfurt in the game after Dante hit an effort from close-range, as the visitors looked to increase their lead.

Frankfurt thought they had equalised from a corner on 41 minutes with a header from Johannes Flum, but the referee ruled the goal out as Meier was caught in an offside position.

Armin Veh’s men restarted proceedings with renewed vigour and optimism after the break as they battled to find an equaliser.

However, the home side struggled to create many clear-cut opportunities, and Guardiola introduced substitutes Thiago Alcantara and Arjen Robben as the away side looked to take the sting out of the game.

Bayern still looked dangerous and had chances to seal the win in the closing stages, but their one-goal lead ultimately proved enough to secure all three points and condemn Frankfurt to their second loss of the season.