Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

Ribery tells Bayern’s stars to wake-up

Having endured a few sleepless night's following Bayern Munich's Champions League defeat last week in Madrid, Franck Ribery has issued his Bayern Munich colleagues with a wake-up call.
 Bayern Munich's French forward Franck Ribery during the UEFA Champions League Group D football match Club Atletico de Madrid vs FC Bayern Munich at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid on September 28, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / JAVIER SORIANO

Bayern Munich’s French forward Franck Ribery during the UEFA Champions League Group D football match Club Atletico de Madrid vs FC Bayern Munich at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid on September 28, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / JAVIER SORIANO

Having endured a few sleepless night’s following Bayern Munich’s Champions League defeat last week in Madrid, Franck Ribery has issued his Bayern Munich colleagues with a wake-up call.

The French veteran sat out Saturday’s lacklustre 1-1 draw at home to Cologne in Germany’s top flight with tiredness having had problems sleeping in the wake of last Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid.

It was Bayern’s fourth straight away defeat to Spanish clubs and the Bavarian champions were then annoyed to drop their first Bundesliga points of the season in throwing away a 1-0 lead against Cologne.

Despite their slight dip, Bayern still hold a three-point gap at the top of the German league with 12 of their squad now on international duty.

But Ribery says they must buck their ideas up after the international break for their league game at Eintracht Frankfurt on October 15 and next Champions League match at home to PSV Eindhoven four days later.

“We have to play like a team and forget about the two bad results,” fumed Ribery to German daily Bild.

“We are a top team with a really good squad.

“We have to work together again, fight for each other and we can do that well together.”

Germany captain Manuel Neuer has already said Bayern were punished for dropping their tempo against Cologne in their third straight below-par performance.

Having previously been warned by senior Bayern figures about his pre-season criticism of the club’s ex-coach Pep Guardiola, Ribery was full of praise for current boss Carlo Ancelotti.

“Carlo is simply a really good bloke,” added Ribery.

“He often comes up to me, asks how things are going and he does it with intelligence.

“He talks a lot with us, rotates a lot and gives every player chances and lots of (playing) minutes.”

The final point is important for the likes of Bayern’s veteran injury-prone wingers Ribery, 33, and Arjen Robben, 32, both of whom are out of contract at the end of the season.

0 Comments