Manuel Neuer smiled almost embarrassed when he appeared in front of the television cameras in his thick winter jacket and asked to rate his own performance. “You do what you can. I always try to hold the ball, ”said the Bayern goalkeeper after his world-class performance in the 3-1 win over RB Salzburg.

Also thanks to Neuer’s saves, the reigning champion reached the knockout stages of the Champions League as a group winner despite being outnumbered in the finals. When Berisha and Enock Mwepu had a double chance, Neuer reacted just as remarkably (16th) as he did later against Dominik Szoboszlai (35th) or in the second half again against Berisha and Mwepu (70th).

Robert Lewandowski with his 71st goal in the premier class (43rd), a goal against his camp from Maximilian Wöber (52nd) after a shot from Kingsley Coman and a header from Leroy Sané (68th) made perfect the 15th consecutive victory of Bayern in Europe.

“That was our big goal today,” Bayern coach Hansi Flick said on Sky TV and praised his “world-class goalkeeper” Neuer. Defender Jerome Boateng paid tribute to his goalkeeper on Instagram: “Let’s move on to the next round. PS Please don’t ever talk about another goalie again because he’s the best ever. “

With the fourth victory in the fourth group game, the defending champion is at the start of the round of 16. “I am very happy with the efficiency,” said Flick. Even after the yellow-red for the Bayern debutant Marc Roca (66th), it was no longer tight.

This was also due to the long insurmountable newcomer from Bayern-Tor, who tore his arms with glee after a spectacular rescue (70th). When the German U21 international Mergim Berisha scored, the DFB goalkeeper was helpless (73rd). “For me the most important thing is to have support for the team,” said Neuer and was delighted that “we were winning this game today and being group winners”.

There were also hymns of praise from the opponent: “He’s just a world-class goalkeeper, he shows it over and over again, you have to admit it,” said Zlatko Junuzovic from Salzburg and ex-Bremen. RB coach Jesse Marsch agreed: “Neuer is amazing. He is the best goalkeeper in the world.”