Merry Guardiola makes Oktoberfest debut

Posted Monday, October 07, 2013 by Marca.com

Pep Guardiola joined his Bayern Munich bosses at Munich's traditional Oktoberfest celebrations earlier on Sunday. The Catalan coach was in high spirits after a great week in which his team followed up the 3-1 Champions League victory away at Manchester City by moving clear at the top of the Bundesliga with a 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen.

Germany legend Lothar Matthäus, who spent two trophy-laden spells at Bayern during his playing days, has come out in praise of Guardiola, claiming the Catalan is beginning to replicate the free-flowing style he implemented with Barcelona in Munich.

"I would say that it's tiki-taka in Bavaria. This is the football we saw in Spain, and that's the innovation he's brought to the Bayern team", Matthäus told 'Sky Deutschland'.

Another area the former midfielder and sweeper praised Guardiola for is his use of Philipp Lahm in the holding midfield role, claiming the Bayern captain has made a vital contribution in place of the injured Javi Martínez.

"He senses the ball and reads what the opponent is going to do. He's very important for Guardiola because he is a defensive-minded player, unlike [Bastian] Schweinsteiger or [Toni] Kroos", Matthäus added.