The Week in Words: December 9-15

FIFA Club World Cup

"We're not done for the year yet."

Philipp Lahm

"We’re flying to Morocco now aiming to win the last trophy of the year."

Pep Guardiola

[fcbayern.de]

#Neuer: "Guangzhou have a few South American players. The manager Lippi is the most well known there. He sets his teams up well."

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) December 15, 2013

#Ribéry: "We're all very happy to be here in Morocco - it's quite special for me because I am a Muslim."

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) December 15, 2013

Victorious to Fall Championship

"We ran into trouble in the second half today because we gave the ball away too cheaply. We have to put that right. The players are already thinking about Marrakech. I have to keep making the players aware of all the hard work we still have to do, although it’s always tough after Champions League matches."

Pep Guardiola [fcbayern.de]

A Loss Once in a While

"While it's never good to lose, maybe a defeat is precisely what this team, these coaches and these players need, to know how hard it is to win all these games, both in the Bundesliga and in Europe. We are a fantastic team. However we will also lose games, because other teams, players and coaches are also great."

Pep Guardiola

"The second half was peculiar. At the end of the day, we have to be happy that we’ve won the group."

Thomas Müller

[fcbayern.de]

"We could have easily won it... we forgot to deliver the knockout punch. And it came back to haunt us.

"We have to learn certain lessons from this. No game is over after 20 minutes, especially against opponents of this quality. We have to hold up our hands and admit this much: we’ve thrown away a match we could and perhaps ought to have won.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, FC Bayern CEO [fcbayern.de]

"We are first, that was our goal. For that reason we can live with this loss... One should play better with a 2:0 lead than we did today."

Philipp Lahm [Süddeutsche Zeitung]

Potpourri

"The respect in the world for FC Bayern was never bigger. [Everyone in 2013] experienced everything that there was positive to live. It ran wonderfully from January until December."

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

"They have not only world class in their first eleven, but also in the entire roster. No other team can absorb four or five high-karat losses so problem-free. That is unique in the history of World Football."

Ottmar Hitzfeld

[Die Welt]

"FC Bayern is a global brand and getting bigger all the time. That wasn’t yet the case in 2001. It’s amazing when you see how many TV stations send people and where they come from. There’s explosive growth at Bayern, although the whole set-up is perhaps still even bigger at Barcelona and Real. Bayern are certainly aiming to become as big. Winning the Champions League and perhaps going on to win the Club World Cup can only help them keep growing."

Hasan Salihamidzić [FIFA.com]

"I don't sit in front of the television and hope that it goes bad for one of my colleagues – that is not my nature. But of cores I would be excited if it goes again sometime. The Bundesliga is naturally already highly interesting, but there are also great clubs abroad that are attractive.

"It is unusual what die Bayern achieve. That they motivate themselves already after three titles last year and deliver such a performance, everything is worth honor."

Hermann Gerland, FC Bayern Assistant Coach [tz-online]