Bayern's home final hopes on a knife-edge
Reuters - Monday 12 March 2012, 01:59
Bayern Munich's hopes of
playing in a Champions League final in their own stadium will be
hanging on a knife-edge on Tuesday as they face a 1-0 deficit
against an FC Basel side unbeaten in their last 17 outings.
Despite thrashing Hoffenheim 7-1 in the Bundesliga on
Saturday, Bayern are treading warily against Basel who are
attempting to become the first Swiss team to reach the last
eight of Europe's top club competition for 33 years.
"The win over Hoffenheim will give us some thrust for
Tuesday," said coach Jupp Heynckes ahead of the second leg of
the round-of-16 tie.
"The game on Saturday was proof that we can score goals. But
Basel will not make it as easy as Hoffenheim," said Heynckes who
twice led Bayern to the semi-finals of the European Cup during a
previous stint at the club which lasted from 1987-91.
Bayern, whose stadium hosts this year's final, have won 11
of their last 12 European games at home, yet have made a habit
of slipping up at the Allianz Arena at crucial moments.
Three of their last four Champions League campaigns ended
when they failed to win games on home turf.
Last season, Bayern went out at the same stage when they
lost 3-2 at home to Inter Milan, having won 1-0 away in the
first leg.
A 1-1 draw against Barcelona sent them out 5-1 on aggregate
in 2009 and two years before that, Bayern lost 2-0 at home to AC
Milan in the quarter-finals, having drawn the first leg 2-2
away.
Basel are unbeaten and have scored in every match away from
home in the competition this season, their most impressive
result being a 3-3 draw at Manchester United after trailing 2-0
at half-time.
Basel coach Heiko Vogel spent nine years working with
Bayern's youth team before moving to Basel as assistant to
Thorsten Fink.
He was giving the senior role last year after Fink left to
join Hamburg SV and has been an instant hit.
After losing at home to Benfica on his debut, Vogel's team
has gone unbeaten for 17 games, beating Manchester United 2-1 to
qualify for the knockout stages at their expense and also
overcoming Bayern in the first leg.
Vogel has repeatedly played down his Bayern connections.
"It would be an unbelievable triumph if a Swiss team reached
the quarter-finals and that should be the main thing. Beating
Bayern Munich, my former employees, does not play a role," he
said.
"We have our qualities. My team have a deep belief in their
capabilities, so we go onto the pitch without worries no matter
who is on the other side."
Basel's progress has come in an otherwise miserable season
for Swiss football with the national team having failed to
qualify for Euro 2012.
Neuchatel Xamax were kicked out of the Swiss league for a
series of administrative irregularities under Russian-born owner
Bulat Chagaev while Servette Geneva's future is uncertain after
they filed for bankruptcy 10 days ago.
FC Sion had 36 points deducted for fielding ineligible
players and taking their case to the civil court in defiance of
FIFA statutes which at one point led to the possibility of
Switzerland being suspended from international football.
Vogel said he was aware that his career would not always be
as smooth as it has so far. "I'm going to make a 1,000
mistakes," he said.
Basel will be hoping he does not start making them on
Tuesday.
Probable teams:
Bayern Munich: 1-Manuel Neuer; 21-Philipp Lahm, 17-Jerome
Boateng, 28-Holger Badstuber, 27-David Alaba; 30-Luiz Gustavo,
31-Bastian Schweinsteiger; 10-Arjen Robben, 25-Thomas Muller,
7-Franck Ribery; 33-Mario Gomez.
FC Basel: 1-Yann Sommer; 27-Markus Steinhoefer, 19-David
Abraham, 6-Aleksandar Dragovic, 3-Park Joo Ho; 17-Xherdan
Shaqiri, 8-Benjamin Huggel, 34-Granit Xhaka, 20-Fabian Frei;
9-Marco Streller, 13-Alexander Frei.