Pep Demands More Despite Win

Pep Guardiola has demanded leaders Bayern Munich improve despite picking up their first win of 2015 to stay eight points clear in the Bundesliga with a 2-0 win at Stuttgart.
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Huub Stevens’ Stuttgart dropped to the bottom of the league following their home defeat while Guardiola’s defending champions stayed on course for a third straight title.
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Arjen Robben scored his second goal in as many games when he fired home from 13 metres out just before the halftime break.
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Left-back David Alaba, who has only just returned from the knee injury he suffered in November, then drilled home a superb free kick from 30 metres to make it 2-0 with 50 minutes gone.
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It was Bayern’s first win in three matches having been thrashed 4-1 at Wolfsburg and then held to a 1-1 draw at home to Schalke 04 on Tuesday.
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“The quality of Arjen Robben and David Alaba made the difference,” said Guardiola as his side maintained their huge lead over second-placed Wolfsburg.
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“Our game isn’t at it’s best, especially against a team who were aggressive and had man-on-man marking.
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“The result was the most important thing, but we have to improve in order to reach our usual level, but I have a lot of trust in this team. They ran a lot and fought hard.”
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With only one team in this season’s German title race, Guardiola said his side are struggling to find their rhythm after the January winter break.
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Bayern travel to Lviv, Ukraine, to face Shakhtar Donetsk in the last 16 of the Champions League in a fortnight and Guardiola says the strain of staying top is showing.
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“We still need a bit of time. Perhaps the winter break wasn’t so good for us,” said the Spaniard.
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“You can’t play for 11 months at this level and always win.
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“It’s about running less and playing more, passing the ball as quickly as possible.
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“We have to find our game, that is our goal for our next match.”
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Stuttgart boss Stevens said his team must not let their heads drop in the battle to avoid relegation.
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“We mustn’t let our heads go down, that is the most important thing at this stage,” said Stevens, who took charge in November after Armin Veh was sacked.
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“Last week we were 16th, this week we’re last, the most important thing is where we are after 34 games.”