Heynckes: We were very professional

Despite the handicap of 120 minutes plus penalties in Madrid just three days ago, and Saturday’s temperature of 32 degrees Celsius, FCB still beat VfB Stuttgart in their penultimate league fixture. “It wasn’t easy for my players, but they were very professional,” said Jupp Heynckes. “We took it seriously,” added Christian Nerlinger. Mario Gomez felt “we were the better and more lively team, and deserved to win.”

Reaction to Bayern v Stuttgart:

Christian Nerlinger: “Yet again, we were totally focused, and the players who haven’t played much recently have again come in and shown they’re up to it, because we’ve comfortably beaten VfB. We took our job seriously, and the same can be expected of us again next week.“

Jupp Heynckes: “It wasn’t exactly easy for my players to switch their attention back to the Bundesliga, although I have to say they were very professional and their attitude was very good, especially those who don’t have the rhythm of playing regularly. Both teams had chances in the first half. In his farewell match, Jörg Butt prevented us going behind with some great saves. If Ivica Olic had taken the chances that came his way in the second half, we’d have seen it through to the end with much less hassle.“

Jörg Butt: “A game like that is obviously fantastic as a way to round off a playing career. Now, I’m looking forward to the two finals, just like the rest of the team.”

Mario Gomez: “The fact we played on Wednesday didn’t show. We played very well as a team today. We were the better and more lively team, which is why we deserved to win – and winning was important. We’ll keep giving it everything until the end of the season.“

Bruno Labbadia (VfB coach): “We really, really wanted to take something from the match and we had a few chances, especially in the first half, but we failed to score. Unfortunately, an individual mistake played straight into Bayern’s hands. All in all, we could have taken more from the game today. But congratulations to Bayern! Not just for today’s match, but also for reaching the Champions League final.”