Barcelona: Bayern Munich's first Champions League match with Barcelona in more than a decade has taken on the air of a "mission impossible," according to chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
Barcelona has won five straight Spanish league games going into the first leg of the quarterfinals on Wednesday at the Camp Nou, where Bayern will play for the first time since a devastating loss to Manchester United in the 1999 final, when the Germans conceded two injury-time goals to lose 2-1.
Rummenigge knows the task will be difficult against one of the competition's heavily favored teams, especially since the Bundesliga club arrives after a 5-1 loss to Wolfsburg on Saturday.
"It's almost a mission impossible but we know from experience that miracles and sensations take place in football," Rummenigge said, pointing to the 1954 World Cup, when Germany bounced back from a 8-3 loss to Hungary during the group stage to beat them 3-2 in the final.
Rummenigge also joined coach Juergen Klinsmann in criticizing the players after the heavy Bundesliga loss.
"Juergen is not a lightning conductor. The players have to take responsibility now," Rummenigge said. "We've been suffering now for two days and we'll try to rise again in Barcelona."
Klinsmann said the team has met to work out its problems before the trip to Spain.
"The players know the whole world is watching and they want to prove themselves. They want to show what they can do," said Klinsmann, who insisted his team would attack just as it did in beating Sporting Lisbon 12-1 on aggregate to reach the quarterfinals.
Barcelona, which beat French champion Lyon to advance, is at near full-strength with the return of Spain internationals Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta.
Puyol's return in defense is most welcome for a team that hasn't recorded a clean sheet on home soil in the Champions League this season and which has let in more goals than any of the other sides in the quarterfinals, with 11 conceded.
Still, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, who has midfielder Yaya Toure back from a leg injury, said Tuesday he had no plans to change his team's strategy in a matchup of the Champions League's two highest-scoring sides this season.
"It won't be easy, but we'll go out looking to score," said Guardiola, who was confident that his center backs can contain Bayern's Franck Ribery and Luca Toni. "We'll need to play a great game."
Guardiola has handed right back Daniel Alves the task of shadowing Ribery, who is reportedly on Barcelona's offseason shopping list.
Puyol knows that Barcelona's defense will need to be near perfect.
"There are no excuses," Puyol said. "The team arrives in good shape and well motivated."
Defender Lucio and striker Miraslov Klose will not be in Bayern's lineup, while center back Daniel van Buyten has traveled to be with his ill father in Belgium but could still return to help the defense.
"Can he travel to Barcelona on Wednesday? Of course. He'll decide," Klinsmann said. "I'm not worried about injuries. We've had enough during the season that it has taught us to improvise."
Guardiola used forward Lionel Messi as a second-half substitute in the 1-0 win at Valladolid in the Spanish league and rested striker Thierry Henry.
Bayern, which has twice beaten Barcelona 2-1 at the Camp Nou in winning three out of the four previous meetings — with the last coming in 1998 — hasn't reached the semifinals in its last three tries. Barcelona reached the semifinals last year.
The return leg will be played at the Allianz Arena on April 14.
Comments
0 comment