Saturday, September 28, 2013

LUIZ GUSTAVO MISSING BAYERN



The Brazilian spent two years at the Allianz Arena and was part of the side that lifted the treble last season, before moving on in a €17.5 million deal as the club brought in Mario Gotze and Thiago Alcantara.

Gustavo will come up against his former team-mates on Saturday having served a suspension and he revealed the strength of the bond between himself and several of his former team-mates.

The 26-year-old told Bayern's official website: "Dante and Rafinha are two friends that I've gained for life from Bayern. But not only them, also Franck Ribery, David Alaba and many others. We were always a very good group.

"We often played against each other in practice matches in training and they were competitive, but this of course will be very different."

Bayern have made a promising start to life under Guardiola and lifted their first trophy under the former Barcelona coach when they beat Chelsea on penalties in the Uefa Super Cup in August.

And Gustavo has backed the Bavarians to continue their dominance both domestically and in Europe.

"Bayern are the best club in the world, you can definitely say that after last season," he added.

"Each opponent will try to beat them but they have a lot of quality and can do anything if they stick together again."

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Thursday, September 26, 2013

MATA CONFIDENT OF CHELSEA CHANCES


The Spaniard has fallen out of favour since the arrival of Jose Mourinho, but is optimistic that his versatility can force a return to the first team
Chelsea's Juan Mata is hoping his ability to play in a variety of positions will see him become a regular starter again at Stamford Bridge.
The Spain international was one of the club's stand-out performers in the past two seasons, scoring 12 goals and providing as many assists in 35 Premier League appearances.
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But he has found himself on the periphery of the first team this season, with new boss Jose Mourinho overlooking the 25-year-old on several occasions, including last Saturday's 2-0 victory over Fulham.
Mata did feature for the side in the 2-0 League Cup triumph against Swindon Town on Tuesday, however, and he is hoping his versatility will earn him a run of starts in order to help him hit top form.
Speaking to The Sun, Mata said: "I've been training hard but it's not the same. You improve your rhythm by playing games.
"I've worked hard and wanted to show everyone that I can play and everything is okay.
"It is easy for me to focus on football and just do what I have to do. The only thing I have in my mind is to keep working, keep training hard, keep improving and keep scoring and making assists. That's what I did.
"I've played in three positions. In the beginning I was playing as a left winger, then on the right and last season as a No.10. I feel comfortable playing in any offensive position.
"It's better if a player can play in lots of positions rather than just one."

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RIBERY:TREBLE WIN ADDS PRESSURE



Franck Ribery has admitted that Bayern Munich's treble win in 2013-14 has added pressure on them to win more silverware this term.

The Bavarians became the first German team in history to win the Bundesliga, Champions League and DFB-Pokal in the same season last season, but the 30-year-old has insisted that they must put their treble win aside and focus on the task at hand.

"The fact we won everything last season adds more pressure," Ribery was quoted as saying on the official Uefa website.

"It was historic for our club. We waited so long to win the trophy, so it did us a lot of good. This Champions League title will remain with us for life.

"In order to do it again you have to be able to forget what happened last season, put it aside. We must go back to work, be very focused and always have this will to win and to work hard but, most importantly, to enjoy playing togethe
r – that's crucial. 

"It's now up to us to keep working hard and to play as a team. That's what we did last season. We must keep that unity and stick together, then we'll have no problems."

Bayern are currently preparing for Saturday's Bundesliga match against Wolfsburg. They sit joint first in the table with Borussia Dortmund with 16 points from six games.

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