Eberl backs Neuer after Augsburg blunder: 'No doubts about Manu'
Bayern sporting director Max Eberl backed goalkeeper Manuel Neuer before the flight to Stavanger, saying the 40-year-old remains number one while the club has a clear plan for Jonas Urbig.
Archive image · Photo: Bryan Berlin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Bayern Munich sporting director Max Eberl publicly backed Manuel Neuer on Monday after the goalkeeper's costly error in a 2-2 draw at Augsburg. "Manu made a mistake," Eberl said before the team flew out for Tuesday's Champions League match at Viking Stavanger. "For us there are no doubts at all about Manu." Neuer lost the ball in front of his own goal 8.4 seconds into Saturday's game, and Robin Fellhauer scored the fastest goal in Bundesliga history. Neuer later called it a "stupid mistake".
"Manu is our number one and will remain so," Eberl said. "And what happens in the future, we will see." He said the club had "a clear idea" for 23-year-old Jonas Urbig that it had been implementing for almost one and a half to two years. According to reports, Urbig is set to start in Stavanger for workload reasons. Eberl declined to confirm that, deferring to coach Vincent Kompany.
The match against Viking kicks off at 9 p.m. CEST on Tuesday on an artificial pitch. Eberl called it a "complicated" task, saying: "We have to be on our guard." Bayern opened the league phase with a 5-0 win over Bodø/Glimt. "We must and want to win the game," Eberl said.