Bayern coach counts on pride and snow to tame Real
23/02/2004
Bayern coach counts on pride and snow to tame Real
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BERLIN, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld believes being outsiders --
and playing in awful weather -- could inspire Bayern Munich in their Champions
League clash against Real Madrid on Tuesday.
"We
ordered the weather," Hitzfeld told a news conference in the snow-covered
Bavarian city on Monday. "The southerners don't like playing in the snow but
we're used to it. Let's hope it will play in our favour."
Club
president Franz Beckenbauer rated Bayern's chances of overcoming Real at "30
percent maximum" but Hitzfeld was a bit more confident before the first leg of
the first knockout round tie in Munich.
"We
are outsiders and that will give us wings," Hitzfeld said. "I trust my team but
they have to give it all they have." Hitzfeld was also pleased that goalkeeper
Oliver Kahn and playmaker Michael Ballack should be fit.
Kahn
and Ballack, who missed Saturday's 1-0 Bundesliga win over Hamburg SV because of
a sore back and bronchitis respectively, have resumed training.
Saturday's laboured win over Hamburg, and more generally their form this season,
suggest Bayern will struggle against Zidane, Ronaldo and company.
But
Bayern can turn to history for inspiration, having won their previous seven home
European Cup games against Real.
"For
once we're not the favourites and that changes the whole picture," said Kahn,
the Bayern captain. "We have nothing to lose."