“Five or six of them came after me. But I did quite well, I wasn’t completely soaked,” said Louis van Gaal after escaping his first beer shower relatively unscathed. “But I dropped my guard a little, and they came back at me.” During the lap of honour, Van Bommel caught the coach from behind with the entire contents of a three-litre beer glass. Van Gaal took it in good part: “It’s wonderful!”

Van Gaal's national championship titles:
Four times in the Netherlands: 1994, 1995 & 1996 with Ajax, 2009 with Alkmaar
Twice in Spain: 1998 and 1999 with Barcelona
Once in Germany: 2010 with Bayern Munich

Louis van Gaal has managed to win the title again. After he won it in his homeland (Nederland) and Spain now he won it in Central Europe in Germany. He has 7 championship titles and this makes him one of the most successful coaches. The coach was asked some question about the soccer season so far:

Q: How does your first title in Munich rank among your successes over the years?

Van Gaal: “Every championship is fantastic, of course – especially in your first season. I achieved that at Barcelona, and again here. And I’m also proud that I am the first Dutch coach to win the German championship. But as you well know, I haven’t done this alone, but at the head of a large staff.”

Q: What differences have their been from previous titles?

Van Gaal: “I have been champion with four different clubs in three countries, and each title has been special in its own way. With Ajax I won three in a row, there I built things up. That was a different experience from what happened here. In Barcelona I was fortunate that the club management very much believed in me, because I had many challenges to overcome in that first year. And with AZ Alkmaar, a small club with young players that had never won anything before, the championship was a really great achievement.”

Q: What is your success with Bayern down to?

Van Gaal: “The players believed in me from day one. That is the best thing that can happen to a coach. Together we always believed that we could do it, and success followed.”

Q: Have you changed during your year in Germany?

Van Gaal: “I already said in my first press conference that my personality was well suited to this job. I am still the same person that I was 20 years ago, but I have learned over the time, I can recognize and evaluate situations better.

Q: How has Dutch football influenced the new champions?

Van Gaal: “We have become champions in a way that not many others have done previously. We play very attractive football, we’re always looking to go on the attack and we always put the opposition under a lot of pressure. Most important is that we were on top in all areas of the game – we scored the most goals in the Bundesliga and conceded the fewest.”

Q: Why did you not rest your stars in Berlin?

Van Gaal: “Because I want to stay in top gear, that’s important. We have won everything in the key months of April and May. For example, I let Ribéry play for 60 minutes and rested him for 30. And I gave Altintop 30 minutes because he will probably have to play in the Champions League final.

Q: How do you now view the two finals coming up?

Van Gaal: “Every player wants to play in the game against Bremen and to win it, and even more the Champions League final. The challenge is to choose the ideal tactics that enable everyone to play at their best.”