Guardiola commends ´courageous´ Ingolstadt

Ingolstadt were the toughest opponents Bayern Munich have come up against so far this season, says Pep Guardiola.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side pressed high up the pitch and limited their Bavarian rivals’ opportunities in the first half, but goals from Robert Lewandowski and Philipp Lahm earned the Spaniard’s side a 2-0 win at the Allianz Arena.

Guardiola was thoroughly impressed by the tactics Ingolstadt deployed, but felt the superior quality of his squad proved the difference.

“A big compliment to my team, but also to Ralph and Ingolstadt for their courageous game,” he said.

“We played against the best team we have met this season.

“We had problems in our set-up for a long time which improved with [the introduction of] Thiago [in the second half]. In the end, our quality has prevailed.”

Lahm believes Bayern must learn from the scare Ingolstadt provided them with, though he admits injuries have not helped.

“They put us under pressure right from the start. We did not play with energy,” he said.

“We can learn from this. We must always go into the game with energy and willingness

“We have a number of injuries and cannot rotate the way we want, but this should not be an excuse.”