Rummenigge: Stuttering Bayern must wake up
Reuters - Thursday 23 February 2012, 09:17
Bayern Munich's bid to
become the first German club to clinch a treble hung in
the balance on Thursday after their surprise 1-0 defeat at Basel
in their Champions League round-of-16 first leg.
The Bavarians, who have dropped to third in the Bundesliga
after last week's 0-0 draw at bottom-placed Freiburg, conceded
an 86th-minute goal after missing a string of clear chances
against the Swiss.
"We need to wake up. We have reached a critical moment in
the season for us now," Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told
his players at the club's traditional post-game dinner in the
early hours of Thursday.
"You must now play aggressively and pull the old adage of
'all for one and one for all' out of the magic hat, and it all
starts this Sunday, gentlemen.
"We must turn this corner quickly," he said. "We must all
work together to pull ourselves out of this mess that we played
ourselves into."
Bayern's world was still in order until the winter break,
having advanced in the Champions League and the German Cup while
also leading the Bundesliga.
In an erratic start to the year, however, they have won only
two of their five league games as champions Borussia Dortmund
gradually pulled away at the top.
"We had wonderful times earlier this season. We had a good
Christmas but we are worried and concerned with what has
happened since then," Rummenigge said.
TWO GOALS
The defeat in Switzerland means the Germans need to beat
Basel, who also defeated Manchester United in this season's
competition, by at least two goals on March 13 in Munich to
advance in 90 minutes.
Any other result would mean them missing out on the biggest
European club prize in a year when the final is held in Munich
in May.
"I think a 1-0 result is one that still gives us chances to
progress," said Bayern chairman Uli Hoeness. "I am not at all
concerned that we might not make it in the return leg but we
need to bring peace and quiet back into the club."
It would not be the first time Bayern had pulled themselves
from the brink of elimination.
After being written off, the four-time winners won their
last two Champions League group games in the 2009/10 season and
eventually reached the competition's final.
Any slip-up against in-form Schalke 04 in the league on
Sunday, however, will further increase pressure on Jupp
Heynckes's team with their aura of invincibility from earlier
this season long punctured.
"We had imagined it differently," said Bayern keeper Manuel
Neuer, who pulled off several spectacular saves to deny the
Swiss before Valentin Stocker's late strike.
"We are stuck in a difficult situation and in this phase we
had imagined our game to be different. We must turn things
around now," Neuer added.