Bayern Munich Coach Jupp Heynckes Reveals the Conversation He Had With Vidal About Poor Performances

Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes has commended Arturo Vital for his reaction to criticism of his fitness level.

The Chilean midfielder opened the scoring as Bayern secured a comfortable 3-0 win over rivals Augsburg on Saturday and moved six points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.

And Heynckes signled Vidal out for praise following his response to some strong and frank words.

"I had a long talk with him two-and-a-half weeks ago and told him that I wasn't pleased with his physical condition in general," he said, quoted by ESPN. "I told him that if he wants to play he would have to change something.

"He didn't see it exactly that way but from that point on, he has trained and behaved differently in training. This week he has trained exceptionally well.

"I know what type of performances he is capable of from our time together at Leverkusen -- the way he played today that's how he played during my first year there, often scoring goals and full of strong running. I expect that from him."

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Vidal has started just six Bundesliga games so far this season, although Saturday's goal was his second of the campaign.

Bayern have been struck with several injuries in recent weeks, with Franck Ribery, Thomas Muller and Kingsley Coman all absent, and Heynckes has insisted that his side will get even better when he has a fully fit squad to choose from.

"When everyone is available, we will play even better football," he added. "All our qualities were on display today -- our positional play, ball circulation, the way we switched play. I was also pleased with the clean sheet and allowing them so few opportunities to score. Overall, that was a very good performance."