Guardiola admits Schalke caused Bayern problems

Pep Guardiola voiced his delight with Bayern Munich's 3-1 Bundesliga win over Schalke as he feels the Gelsenkirchen side did not make life easy for the reigning champions.

David Alaba handed Bayern an early lead, but Max Meyer levelled for Schalke when he beat Manuel Neuer from outside the area.

Nevertheless, Javi Martinez and Thomas Muller eventually helped Bayern to all three points.

"It was not easy to win here, but we did it in the end," Guardiola said.

"I can only give the team a compliment. The pitch was not great and Schalke's five-man defence made life hard for us. They are very quick through the middle.

"We did a fine job until we conceded the equaliser. We took control of the game again after the break.

"We got a lot of chances to decide the game after we went 2-1 up, but the final pass was missing. But we got the three points and that matter most."

Bayern are eight points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund after Thomas Tuchel's side were beaten by Hamburg on Friday.