UNITED KINGDOM: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Bayern ready to achieve the extraordinary in 'intense' Wembley final

Record ID: 567026

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Bayern ready to achieve the extraordinary in 'intense' Wembley final
  • Date: 24th May 2013
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (MAY 25, 2013) (REUTERS) BAYERN MUNICH COACH JUPP HEYNCKES WALKS ON TO STAGE CAMERA LENS (SOUNDBITE) (German) JUPP HEYNCKES, BAYERN MUNICH COACH, SAYING: "I think that on the pitch it will be very intensive, like is normal for any Champions League final match being played out. It will have a fast tempo and intensive one-on-one engagements, and I think that both teams are of course concerned to decide the match for their team, that is quite normal, and otherwise the match will play out like a Champions League final deserves to be played." WIDE SHOT OF PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (German) JUPP HEYNCKES, BAYERN MUNICH COACH, SAYING: "Penalty shoot outs can't be practised, that is obvious, because in the competition itself under the immense pressure, a penalty shoot out situation is a very different one to one in training, but it is simply the case that my players trained this week at individually to shoot penalties, but we also practised other standards that are important, but I don't weight this too much as we have achieved the extraordinary in this Bundesliga season, you could almost say that it was the best Bundesliga season of a team in 50 years of Bundesliga, and we have in the last few weeks we have played successfully in the league, we have only drawn once, otherwise we have won all the matches, and we have the ambition to carry on in this manner, and that means tomorrow in the Champions League final and then a week later in Berlin for the German Cup." PRESS CONFERENCE JOURNALIST PHILIPP LAHM AND THOMAS MUELLER WALK INTO PRESS CONFERENCE SIGN (SOUNDBITE) (German) PHILIPP LAHM, BAYERN MUNICH CAPTAIN, SAYING: "Today it is all no problem because you do so much video analysis that you know the opponents inside and out, of course it makes it easier to play against a German team, because you know lots of the players, but in the end it doesn't matter who you are playing against, on this level they are top teams and you have enough time to observe the opposition and then it doesn't matter if you are playing against Turin or Barcelona or against Dortmund." CLOSE UP OF BALL (SOUNDBITE) (German) THOMAS MUELLER, BAYERN MUNICH MIDFIELDER, SAYING: "Yes, we have said it often in the last two or three weeks, last years' final doesn't have any negative indications for tomorrow's match, if any then positive ones, just motivation and that's all. Perhaps that we will be a little bit more careful and reactive after missing out on a final through a standard situation, but that only sharpens the senses and is positive for tomorrow." SIGN ON PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (German) PHILIPP LAHM, BAYERN MUNICH CAPTAIN, SAYING: "You have to say that this development is good for German football. As far as club football is concerned, in the last few years there was always a team that went far in the Champions League, and the national team too of course. It helps the national team a lot too, of course, if two German teams are in the final. I don't know how many national team players Bayern and Dortmund have between them, but several of them belong to the national team, and it is always positive when such players battle it out, it helps each player and in this way it helps the national team, and this is good for German football ." PRESS END OF PRESS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAC8Q21OSRNI4NRFN5COQV0CGL2
  • Story Text: The all-German Champions League final on Saturday pits traditional powerhouses Bayern Munich against modernists Borussia Dortmund at London's Wembley Stadium (1845 GMT) with more at stake than Europe's premier club trophy.
    Bayern, four-times European champions, are Germany's richest and most successful club, while rejuvenated Borussia Dortmund won the trophy in 1997 but came to the brink of financial ruin in 2005.
    The Ruhr valley club have recovered on a sporting level under coach Juergen Klopp, challenging Bayern's dominance in the past two seasons before the Munich club reclaimed the league title last month in record-breaking fashion.
    The Bavarians, in the first all-German Champions League final, are desperate to erase memories of two lost finals in 2010 and 2012 and reclaim their top spot by beating the team that forced them to go two seasons without any domestic silverware.
    Last season's Champions League final defeat in Munich to Chelsea on penalties has been especially bitter to swallow for Bayern but now Jupp Heynckes' team stands before an unprecedented treble for a German club.
    Heynckes, who has announced an end to his long Bundesliga career and will be replaced by former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola at the end of the season, could leave after completing a trio of titles including the German Cup, 12 months after what for other teams could have been a back-breaking defeat.
    Speaking at a press conference at Wembley Stadium, the veteran coach said he expected a very intense game against their Bundesliga rivals.

    "I think that on the pitch it will be very intensive, like is normal for any Champions League final match being played out. It will have a fast tempo and intensive one-on-one engagements, and I think that both teams are of course concerned to decide the match for their team, that is quite normal, and otherwise the match will play out like a Champions League final deserves to be played."
    Having clinched the league title with weeks of the season to go Heynckes said Bayern had been able to prepare well for the game, including practising penalties should the game reach that stage.

    "Penalty shoot outs can't be practised, that is obvious, because in the competition itself under the immense pressure, a penalty shoot out situation is a very different one to one in training, but it is simply the case that my players trained this week at individually to shoot penalties, but we also practised other standards that are important, but I don't weight this too much as we have achieved the extraordinary in this Bundesliga season, you could almost say that it was the best Bundesliga season of a team in 50 years of Bundesliga, and we have in the last few weeks we have played successfully in the league, we have only drawn once, otherwise we have won all the matches, and we have the ambition to carry on in this manner, and that means tomorrow in the Champions League final and then a week later in Berlin for the German Cup."
    For several Bayern players, the final could be the last chance for a major international trophy that has been eluding them with both club and country.
    Bayern playmaker Bastian Schweinsteiger and captain Philipp Lahm have enjoyed hugely successful footballing careers but, both in their late 20s, they are running out of chances for a big trophy.
    Lahm said there is no difference preparing to face another German side as the backroom staffs preparation is as thorough for teams from different countries.

    "Today it is all no problem because you do so much video analysis that you know the opponents inside and out, of course it makes it easier to play against a German team, because you know lots of the players, but in the end it doesn't matter who you are playing against, on this level they are top teams and you have enough time to observe the opposition and then it doesn't matter if you are playing against Turin or Barcelona or against Dortmund."
    One record Bayern don't want is to lose three finals in four years, something Thomas Mueller says the team have turned into a positive.

    "Yes, we have said it often in the last two or three weeks, last years' final doesn't have any negative indications for tomorrow's match, if any then positive ones, just motivation and that's all. Perhaps that we will be a little bit more careful and reactive after missing out on a final through a standard situation, but that only sharpens the senses and is positive for tomorrow."
    Lahm said that the emergence of Germany as a dominant force in European football is due to the training structures put bin place by the clubs.

    "You have to say that this development is good for German football. As far as club football is concerned, in the last few years there was always a team that went far in the Champions League, and the national team too of course. It helps the national team a lot too, of course, if two German teams are in the final. I don't know how many national team players Bayern and Dortmund have between them, but several of them belong to the national team, and it is always positive when such players battle it out, it helps each player and in this way it helps the national team, and this is good for German football ."
    France international Franck Ribery and Dutch winger Arjen Robben have also had enough runners-up titles in their careers and are eager to avoid being stuck with a loser tag at the third attempt in four seasons.
    Probable teams: Borussia Dortmund: 1-Roman Weidenfeller; 26-Lukasz Piszczek, 4-Neven Subotic, 15-Mats Hummels, 29-Marcel Schmelzer; 8-Ilkay Gundogan, 5-Sebastian Kehl, 16-Jakub Blaszczykowski, 19-Kevin Grosskreutz, 11-Marco Reus; 9-Robert Lewandowski Bayern Munich: 1-Manuel Neuer; 21-Philipp Lahm, 17-Jerome Boateng, 4-Dante, 27-David Alaba; 31-Bastian Schweinsteiger, 8-Javi Martinez; 10-Arjen Robben, 25-Thomas Mueller, 7-Franck Ribery; 9-Mario Mandzukic Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy) ($1 = 0.7769 euros)
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