Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 9y

Franck Ribery heaps praise on Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola

Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery believes Pep Guardiola has an almost supernatural understanding of the game which allows him to be always one step ahead of everybody else.

After winning the La Liga title three times and the Champions League twice at Barcelona, Guardiola returned seamlessly to that level of success in his first year at Bayern, leading them to glory in the Bundesliga, German Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

The Bavarians are on course to defend their domestic title while they are looking strong in the Champions League this season, and Ribery says there is no coincidence.

"Guardiola finds it uncannily easy to understand immediately any situation in a game, in attack or defence," Ribery told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "He can change the way we play completely after 45 minutes, or frequently even sooner.

"He has the intelligence to see certain situations which not everybody can see. It's not only about reading the game, but acting and reacting quickly to any situation. He knows how we can hurt our opponents and he moves us around and changes us, adapting us.

"There's not one fixed way of playing, but a movement which is modelled around our opponents."

Marseille in 2007.">

Understanding what Guardiola wants is the only challenge his players have, although Ribery says it is not rocket science.

"They're not difficult things to understand, they're quite easy, you just have to try them and keep trying them in training," Ribery continued. "He talks to us a lot, explaining things right down to the very finest of details. You just need to understand what he wants and that everybody has a role to play.

"If you get that, then the rest is easy."

Bayern are making it look that way with Tuesday night's 3-2 defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League the only blot on their copybook so far this season. Otherwise, they have been scoring almost at will, and conceding on only very rare occasions.

Their season includes a 7-1 win at Roma in Europe, although Ribery says that result was a bit flattering.

"Roma are a very good team," said the 31-year-old. "We are stronger than them and we've got players with a lot of international experience, but you've got to say that every chance we had went in and that doesn't happen always."

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