Joshua Kimmich praises Paderborn’s courage, looks ahead of UCL clash with Chelsea

It took an 88th minute goal from Robert Lewandowski to rescue maximum points for Bayern Munich as they secured a 3-2 win over last-placed SC Paderborn. After going up by a goal on two separate occasions (Gnabry 25’, Lewandowski 70’), Bayern surrendered the lead twice. Paderborn’s Sven Michel thought he had secured a massive point for the away side, but Lewandowski’s 88th minute winner denied them the point.

For Bayern, they were miles off of their best, having made several changes to the starting eleven. Speaking in the mixed zone after the match, Joshua Kimmich spoke highly of the way Paderborn played at the Allianz Arena, especially their attacking intent:

Normally when a team is promoted, many just sit back, put up a wall and score on the break or on set-pieces. Paderborn counters very dangerously, but they also want to play the ball out from the back. [Our] first and the second goals were the result of Paderborn’s mistakes, but I’ve seen them play many games where they were rewarded for their good passages of play. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t get the result this time. But it was fun to watch Paderborn. The reverse fixture was also a good game. By our standards, that game, like today, was perhaps too even.

Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images

When they’re playing one of the teams at the bottom of the Bundesliga table, the onus is always on Bayern to get a convincing result, but Paderborn made it anything but easy. Kimmich added that he genuinely hopes they don’t get relegated at the end of the season for the exciting way that they play:

People expect us to win at home more convincingly, more dominantly against the bottom team in the table. But the neutral observer can only praise Paderborn. I’m crossing my fingers for them, that they survive, that such a playing style is rewarded in the end.

Kimmich also added that there can be lessons learned from some of the mistakes they made, as is always the case with any Bundesliga opponent:

You can always learn lessons. You can say that errors in the Bundesliga can be sorely punished. If we don’t reach our limit, then we can have problems against any opponent, even if they are the last team in the table. We need keep taking advantage of our opportunities going forward, even on the easy afternoons.

Looking ahead to the Bayern’s upcoming encounter with Chelsea in the Champions League, Kimmich said the Frank Lampard’s side for its balance between youth and experience. The Champions League, he said, is always a different beast from the domestic leagues. Bayern obviously want to get off to a good start in the two-legged tie at Stamford Bridge:

I would say that they [Chelsea] have a very good mix – a few young players, a few established players. They have good pace going forward. I think they have only been consistent in the Premier League recently. I think they lost against ManU. A Champions League game is always something else. We start from scratch. We’ll see where they are and they’ll see where we are. But of course we want to win [in London].