With their seventh competitive win in a row, Bayer 04 have closed the gap on leaders Bayern Munich to four points. After the 2-0 win in Augsburg, captain Lukas Hradecky is impressed by the maturity of the performance and reopens the title race.
Bayer 04’s winning streak continues. Four days after beating Inter Milan 1-0 in the Champions League, the double winners were in imperious form again on Saturday, beating FC Augsburg 2-0. The performance thrilled captain Lukas Hradecky.
“In seven years, that was my best away game in Augsburg – after a high-class game against Inter. Two months ago, we might not have played as dominantly. It shows again that the team wants to win,” explained the goalkeeper, and immediately put the success in the context of the 2-0 defeat in Munich in the game against Mainz as ‘a very good signal – also for other games…’
The 35-year-old wants to successfully defend the title from a different position than last year. “Last year, we were the hunted for the most part. We did that well. Now we want to take on the other role,” explained the Finn confidently, “that was good news from Mainz – we want to continue.”
Hradecky sees “masterpiece of an away game”
The national player’s confidence is not based solely on the fact that they are only one point behind leaders FC Bayern. Rather, it was their own performance that fuels Hradecky’s optimism. “For me, it was a masterpiece of an away game. We kept the ball moving despite the difficult pitch conditions, scored two well-deserved goals and controlled the game completely,” enthused the veteran about the team performance, which, while not spectacular, was characterized by great maturity and efficiency, as it was on Tuesday.
“You have to say: Since the beginning of November, we have really realized that we have to be there, even in such games, on bad pitches. We haven’t had such control for a long time,” said Hradecky, explaining the turnaround that has put the factory club back in contention for the title.
Hradecky makes no secret of the fact that this is the objective, even if he, like managing director Simon Rolfes, does not mention the name of the opponent from Munich in his declaration of war. But the direction of the attack is clear. “We are also quite good in the hunter role,” emphasizes Hradecky, looking at the recent successes, ”we have completed the last four or five match days in the Bundesliga superbly, and now we want to successfully complete the end of the year. Then maybe we will get close enough to still be in the fight for the title. Against FC Bayern.