Thomas Mueller joked that the Bundesliga without fans feels like “old man’s football, 7pm, under floodlights” after Bayern Munich brushed aside Union Berlin 2-0 behind closed doors on Sunday.
A first-half Robert
Lewandowski penalty and a late Benjamin Pavard header sealed Bayern’s win in
front of empty terraces in Berlin.
The result leaves
defending champions Bayern four points clear as the German league restarted
this weekend after a two-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 virus.
However, Mueller
admitted it was strange to play Union behind closed doors at their compact
Alten Foersterei stadium, which is usually packed with 22,000 passionate home
fans.
“It felt a bit like
the atmosphere you get for old man’s football, 7pm, under floodlights, but as
soon as the ball started to roll, the game took our focus,” said Mueller.
The Bundesliga
became the first top European league to resume this weekend, using draconian
hygiene guidelines, regular testing of players and insisting on games in
near-empty stadiums.
Hugging, embracing
and handshakes were also banned.
“There were a few
butterflies before the restart, wondering how it would go, like before the
first game of the season in August,” said Mueller.
“I wasn’t worried
about anything going wrong, everything was explained clearly to us.
“Union Berlin, just
like us, were well prepared, no handshakes before kick-off etc.”
Mueller said the
defending champions were just happy to win their first game after the restart
to keep them on course for an eighth consecutive league title.
“We came here with
the goal of getting the three points,” added Mueller.
“We had a bit more
security after the second goal.”