Guardiola hails Bayern´s ´massive´ year

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola hailed the Bundesliga giants’ past 12 months of dominance after their FIFA Club World Cup win.

Guardiola clinched his second piece of silverware in charge of the club, as they beat surprise packets Raja Casablanca 2-0 to be crowned world champions.

The trophy comes after Bayern beat Chelsea on penalties in the UEFA Super Cup earlier in the year, although Guardiola was keen to point out the club’s extensive success after they completed the treble last season under Jupp Heynckes.

“Five trophies in a year is massive success for FC Bayern,” the Spaniard said.

“I’m delighted for the club and very proud of the players and the supporters.

“Now we have a two-week break, after which we’ll come back and take the upcoming challenges in our stride.

“We’re happy with what we’ve achieved but we’re already looking forward.”

Guardiola was always keen to not underestimate his opponents, although it could have been easy to disrespect the Moroccan club – who fought valiantly into the final through qualifying.

“It was clear to my players that they would need to give it everything to win this tournament,” he said.

“We played well in the first 25 minutes, but after that we put them under less pressure and created too few opportunities.”

Casablanca coach Faouzi Benzarti never doubted his players, and conceded nerves got the better of them early in the final in Marrakech as Bayern went 2-0 up inside 22 minutes.

“I had faith in our abilities but unfortunately my players weren’t quite able to execute what we had planned,” Benzarti said.

“Perhaps we were slightly nervous at the start, but in the second half it was an even game and we even had a chance to score.

“Still, a 2-0 defeat against Bayern is very respectable, even if we’d obviously love to have won the title.

“Now we have to get back to reality and concentrate on the Moroccan championship again.

“My players will need some time to recover their strength.

“This was a very tough tournament for them, both physically and mentally.”

Casablanca are struggling domestically, sitting ninth in the Botola and they entered the Club World Cup on the back of consecutive losses.

But they defied their form to chalk up wins over Auckland City, Monterrey and Atletico Mineiro on their way to the final.