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Confident Bayern happy to see Valencia again
MUNICH (AP)
Bayern Munich will begin its Champions League campaign against Valencia on Wednesday full of confidence after its best start to a season in 12 years - when it went on to win the European title against the Spanish team.
Bayern's dramatic loss on penalties to Chelsea in the Champions League final May prompted the German powerhouse to embark on a spending spree. It then won its first five competitive matches of the season with a club record 12 goals from its opening three Bundesliga games.
''It was a game that you never forget, it stays with you a lifetime,'' Bayern defender Holger Badstuber said of the match against Chelsea. ''It was a heavy blow but we've coped with it. Every player took his own conclusions from it. It should spur us on and not hamper us. It's a new season now. We have new targets to aim for.''
Bayern last won the Champions League in 2001, when Mauricio Pellegrino - now Valencia coach - missed the decisive spot kick in the final to give the Germans their fourth title.
''It was a huge disappointment from a sporting point of view, absolutely,'' the 40-year-old Pellegrino told Kicker magazine ahead of his European debut as coach. ''But it's also a good memory, because I was there for one of Valencia's biggest nights.''
French side Lille hosts Belarusian champion BATE Borisov in Group F's other match.
Bayern defeated Bundesliga champion Borussia Dortmund in the German Super Cup to end its two-year trophy drought in August, and then enjoyed a 4-0 win over Jahn Regensburg in the German Cup before getting its league campaign off to a perfect start.
''It can go on like that. It should go on like that,'' Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said.
Bayern's last - and only - loss at home to a Spanish team in the competition came 10 years ago, when Deportivo La Coruna recorded a 3-2 win. The Bavarian team has 13 wins to show from 19 home games with Spanish sides.
Valencia has only won once in 11 games in Germany, five years ago against Schalke.
But no Bayern player is underestimating Valencia, most likely the Germans' chief rival to top the group.
''They're a very good team, not Madrid or Barcelona, but not very far off,'' said Arjen Robben, who looks to have overcome a troublesome lower back injury to play.
Franck Ribery, who also missed Bayern's 3-1 Bundesliga win over Mainz on Saturday, is also likely to play after overcoming muscular problems.
''They trained well and completed the whole workload. I think they're able to play,'' Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said after Tuesday's training session.
However, Mario Gomez, who last season scored 13 Champions League goals, is still out after undergoing surgery on his left angle. Defenders David Alaba, Rafinha and Diego Contento are also ruled out.
Offseason signing Mario Mandzukic is proving himself an able deputy for Gomez, contributing six goals in the five games while the Germany striker is absent. Peru striker Claudio Pizarro can also step up if needed.
Bastian Schweinsteiger played his second straight full league game on Saturday and seems to have put his injury worries behind him, while record-signing Javi Martinez came on with 15 minutes remaining against Mainz to set up Bayern's third goal.
''I think he could play (against Valencia). He's improving from day to day and has (gained) the acceptance of the other players,'' Heynckes said.
Pellegrino has bigger injury worries than Heynckes, with defender David Albelda, midfielder Fernando Gago and winger Pablo Piatti all out.
After drawing at Real Madrid in its opening game, Valencia earned a much-needed first victory in the Spanish league on Saturday when it beat promoted Celta Vigo 2-1.
''The team arrives in good form to Wednesday's game in Munich,'' Pellegrino said. ''We have to take the smallest chances up front and stay fully concentrated at the back. Above all, we have to pace ourselves for the whole game.''
Lille and BATE Borisov are meeting for the first time and the French side hopes it can improve its defense after a lackluster start to the league.
Little drew 1-1 at newly promoted Troyes on Saturday after conceding a sloppy equalizer with two minutes remaining in a match it had dominated.
''We've conceded at least one goal per game since the league started,'' Lille coach Rudi Garcia said. ''But in terms of commitment and team spirit I have nothing to reproach the players for. We just need to try and push forward more, we need to be more consistent.''
Lille has only one defeat in 12 Champions League home games, which have yielded just three wins.
Bayern wary of overconfidence against BATE Borisov
MINSK, BELARUS (AP)
Shortly after Bayern Munich equaled its club record by starting the season with nine straight wins in all competitions, sporting director Matthias Sammer criticized the team for a lack of effort in the 2-0 victory at Werder Bremen.
''It wasn't good enough until we scored the opening goal, we have to be clear about that,'' Sammer said. ''It's not always about judging the result.''
Despite the critique, the Bundesliga club can beat that 1984-85 record on Tuesday against BATE Borisov in the Champions League.
Bayern left for Minsk - where BATE Borisov plays its European games - without the injured Arjen Robben, who is still laboring with muscle problems.
BATE surprised many by beating Lille 3-1 in the opening round. It was the six-time Belarusian champion's first Champions League group stage win in 13 attempts.
''It'll be a difficult game,'' Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said at Monday's news conference. ''This is an opponent that's very well organized, that has very good players and that won impressively in Lille.''
Heynckes called on his players to produce the same football they have played from the start of the season.
''Then we'll have every likelihood of winning tomorrow,'' the 67-year-old coach said.
Both Lille and Valencia, which lost at Bayern 2-1, will be looking for their first points when they meet in Group F's other match.
Sammer's criticism is being taken as timely check on rising euphoria following Bayern's blistering start to the season.
''What Matthias said pleased me very much,'' Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said before boarding the flight to Minsk. ''We shouldn't make the mistake of being lulled into complacency. And Matthias is one who recognizes this danger.''
Bayern captain Philipp Lahm said Sammer and Heynckes spoke with the players ''and we all know that we can do better.''
Bayern's unrelenting drive is fueled by the trauma of finishing second in three competitions last season, losing out to Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga and German Cup final, but above all by the pain of that Champions League final loss to Chelsea on penalties in Bayern's stadium last May.
''There's a huge motivation to win the (Champions League) title,'' Toni Kroos told Kicker magazine on Monday. ''Chelsea is dealt with, crossed off. You'll never forget it because there'll never be a better chance to win this title.''
Kroos has been Bayern's outstanding player of the season so far as the midfielder finally starts living up to the promise which prompted the German powerhouse to sign him as a 16-year-old youngster in 2006.
''I simply tried to take things from last season, which was already very good, and to improve myself in certain areas,'' Kroos said. ''I was fit going into the season and so you can expect such performances from me, as I expect them from myself.''
Bayern has never played a team from Belarus before and Kroos said he was expecting an ''uncomfortable game.''
''There are hardly any games for Bayern where you say beforehand you'd be happy with a draw,'' Kroos said. ''We're favorites and we want to win there. But I also don't know the team that well. Their 3-1 win in Lille was a declaration.''
Mario Mandzukic will be expected to lead the line in attack in the absence of Germany striker Mario Gomez, who has yet to play this season after undergoing surgery on his left ankle on Aug. 7.
Gomez scored 12 Champions League goals last season, plus another in qualifying, but has been barely missed as Mandzukic has chipped in nine goals in Bayern's nine games so far.
BATE midfielder Alexander Hleb will be familiar to many of the Bayern players from his spells at Stuttgart and Wolfsburg, where he played alongside Mandzukic.
Borisov warmed up for Tuesday's game with a 5-1 win over Neman Grodno on Friday.
''We're in good form, and the win is a confidence booster for the Bayern match,'' Borisov midfielder Renan Bressan said.
Both Valencia and Lille have endured difficult starts to their respective seasons, with the French side arguably in greater need of a confidence booster as it travels to Spain.
''It feels like we're cursed at the moment,'' Lille coach Rudi Garcia said Friday's 2-0 loss to Rennes - his side's fifth straight match without a win.
Lille will likely be without central midfielder and captain Rio Mavuba, who limped off with a knee injury against Rennes, while former Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou and midfielder Marvin Martin are out through thigh and groin problems, respectively.
But central defender Franck Beria should be available after recovering from a back injury.
Valencia got a much-needed second league win with a 2-0 victory over Zaragoza on Saturday, but the side is yet to settle down under new coach Manuel Pellegrino.
Mark! wrote:*crosses fingers* please be bayern
whateva dudeaxe wrote:well I saw the match and we dominated in possession and goal scoring opportunities....we hit the woodwork TWICE....
Bate converted their chances while we squandered ours.....Toni Kroos actually rounded the keeper and miss the empty goal.....
I am dissappointed but this is champions league afterall, and I hope Bayern will stop throwing away chances and start being more clinical
Congrats to Bate Borisov! BUT it aint over by a great deal!
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