Coman and Costa far from matching Robben and Ribery – Guardiola

Pep Guardiola declared Kingsley Coman and Douglas Costa have their work cut out to reach the level shown by Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery at Bayern Munich.

Coman arrived at the Allianz Arena on loan – with the option of a permanent transfer – from Juventus in August, while Costa was signed from Shakhtar Donetsk in June.

The pair made impressive starts at Bayern, with the 19-year-old scoring twice in four Bundesliga appearances and the Brazilian supplying five top-flight assists in eight outings.

But Guardiola still feels the duo have a long way to go in order to match the quality of established wingers Robben and Ribery, who were part of Bayern’s treble-winning side in 2012-13.

“Coman and Douglas Costa must eat a lot of soup if they are to reach the level of Arjen and Franck in this club,” the Spaniard said on Friday.

Robben has made just three league appearances this season and Ribery is yet to feature, though they are nearing a return from the sidelines.

Guardiola also has to contend with injuries to Mario Gotze, Sebastian Rode, Medhi Benatia, Jan Kirchhoff and Holger Badstuber.

He believes that such issues could stop Bayern from challenging for trophies on all fronts.

“I only have 13 players and a lot of problems with injured players,” Guardiola added.

“To win the title with 13 players is impossible.

“We need the players back, and then we can fight for all the titles.”