Julian Nagelsmann has backed Bayern Munich to bounce back from hitting rock Bochum.
The Bayern boss will send out his team to face Salzburg in the Champions League on Wednesday after a wave of criticism in the wake of a shock 4-2 weekend defeat.
Such are the sky-high standards at German giants Bayern that the 4-2 loss to mid-table Bochum in the Bundesliga has seen the team exposed to criticism and questioning, mostly but not exclusively from outside the club.
Bayern still hold a six-point lead at the top of the German top flight, and they will be strongly favoured to fend off Salzburg over two legs at the last-16 stage in Europe.
"If you concede four goals, the defence is of course criticised," Nagelsmann said. "Before Bochum we were good. We are by far the team with the most ball wins in Europe."
Nagelsmann said he had been looking at how Bayern's opponents were able to open up a 4-1 interval lead and added: "You can anticipate many things if you're greedy. We didn't have that against Bochum.
"Most of the time we're able to score more goals than we concede. In the Champions League and in the cup, of course, the impact is greater when that happens. So we are all willing to get a better result than we got on Saturday."
Bayern have come under fire from club legend Lothar Matthaus, who now works as a television pundit. Matthaus pointed the finger at Dayot Upamecano and Lucas Hernandez, saying they are not providing good value for money.
Nagelsmann said he would not comment "on every expert opinion that comes out without pressure from the leather chair", adding: "In the end, it's about us delivering such a performance that this kind of thing doesn't even come up."
Bayern honorary president Uli Hoeness suggested there was perhaps "not enough friction" in the team, and Thomas Muller responded to that and similar verdicts on Tuesday.
Muller said: "At the end we are judged on our results. It was a disastrous result against Bochum.
"We've already discussed that, we're very self-critical. We already have friction. Many of us have known each other for years. The powers that come from that trust unleash more powers. I see us on the right track."
Looking at the Bochum result, Muller said: "We don't close our eyes and tick it off, we're very analytical and self-critical."
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
'No easy games in Bundesliga' - Kompany proud of narrow Bayern win
Bayern Munich may have been far from impressive in their 1-0 win at promoted St Pauli, but Vincent Kompany believes it shows there are no easy games in the Bundesliga.
Bayern had scored 12 goals in their previous three league games going into the encounter in Hamburg, but they struggled against the disciplined hosts who staunchly refused to capitulate.
It took a stunning long-range Jamal Musiala shot in the 22nd minute to decide the game, even as Bayern upped the pressure in the second half in search of a second goal.
"When you look at what [Bayer] Leverkusen did in Bochum and what [Borussia] Dortmund did in Mainz, there are no easy games and today was a tough game. It's a very good win for us," Kompany said.
While Bayern narrowly won their game, champions Leverkusen conceded an 89th-minute goal to draw 1-1 at bottom club Bochum, while Dortmund slumped to a 3-1 loss at Mainz, their fourth straight loss on the road in the league.
"This game came at a tricky moment for us because we had a Champions League game on Wednesday," added Kompany, whose team beat Benfica 1-0 in the European competition.
"We played against a very compact team, with high energy and a very good game management. Even when we scored the first goal, they didn't panic and stayed patient.
"They put a bit more pressure towards the end of the game. I can value this win a lot."
Kompany has earned 26 points in his first 10 Bundesliga games with Bayern - a joint-record after the first 10 games in the competition by a manager at the club, along with Pep Guardiola in 2013 and Branko Zebec in 1968 (converted to 3 points per game).
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