Having beaten Real Madrid 2-1 in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final on Tuesday night, Bayern Munich are in with more than a good chance of going through to the final on home turf on 19 May 2012.
In this interview, Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes talks about goal scorers Mario Gomez, Franck Ribéry, and Mesut Özil, and looks ahead to the second-leg fixture scheduled to be played in the time-honoured Estadio Bernabéu next Wednesday (kick-off 8:45 pm, live on German channels Sat.1 and Sky).
Question: Jupp Heynckes, with Mario Gomez leaving it very late to score the winning goal, Bayern celebrated another last-minute victory…
Jupp Heynckes: Yes, but it was well deserved, too. Real came out of the blocks the better team and played very well for the first 15 minutes, but then we took charge of the game. My players showed everything I asked from them – passion, sacrifice, hunger for the ball. And don't forget that we haven't seen two run-of-the-mill teams here but two real champions. Ours was a deserved win over an excellent Madrid side.
Question: How do you rate Howard Webb's refereeing performance?
Heynckes: It's in the nature of the game that any referee's calls will always be debated, discussed, or questioned for whatever reason. Cases in point are Marcelo's foul on Thomas Müller or our first goal (with Luis Gustavo in an alleged offside position; DFB.de), which I think he was right to allow. A few minor things apart, he had a good match.
Question:: And Mario Gomez?
Heynckes: Mario and Franck Ribéry were clearly our best players on the night, especially Mario with his incredible work rate, constantly calling for the ball, hardly ever losing possession, running his socks off for us for the full 90 minutes. His goal was the finest reward. The same can be said for Ribéry.
Question: Real Madrid midfield schemer Mesut Özil scored the equalizer but was taken off surprisingly early by your counterpart, José Mourinho – would you say this worked in your favour?
Heynckes: At that stage, Özil looked a bit tired, so José must have thought he needed to react. It's what we coaches are paid to do! Obviously, having plenty of world-class subs available on the bench makes some decisions easier to take.
Question: By giving away the ball, Bastian Schweinsteiger was at the start of a chain reaction that led to Real scoring. You took him off after 60 minutes.
Heynckes: That's right, but not because I thought he was to blame in any way! Real just capitalized on our unorganized defence, that's all. I think he played very well.
Question: No pre-match doubts about including him in the starting line-up?
Heynckes: Bastian is a top strategist with loads of experience, so there was never any doubt in my mind about him starting the game. But having played a full 90 minutes last week for the first time in months, he still needs to be rested. I'm happy he stayed the course for 60 minutes, next there'll be another 60 minutes against Bremen on Saturday, and hopefully he'll go the full 90 minutes in Madrid.
Question: And what marching orders will you be giving?
Heynckes: We'll stay true to FC Bayern's philosophy – playing forward-oriented football, trying to create goal-scoring opportunities. My team have it in them to score one or two goals in any match, even in Madrid. I'm not a defensively-minded coach; we're going to play for a win, not a draw. But it'll be a very hard piece of work.
Question: With seven of your players cautioned, picking up another yellow card in the second-leg match means they'd be suspended for the final…
Heynckes: Yes, but my players know how to prevent that from happening, as long as they act cool, calm and collected and focus 100 percent on events on the pitch. They're a pretty intelligent bunch who can tell a clean tackle from a foul.
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Having beaten Real Madrid 2-1 in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final on Tuesday night, Bayern Munich are in with more than a good chance of going through to the final on home turf on 19 May 2012.
In this interview, Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes talks about goal scorers Mario Gomez, Franck Ribéry, and Mesut Özil, and looks ahead to the second-leg fixture scheduled to be played in the time-honoured Estadio Bernabéu next Wednesday (kick-off 8:45 pm, live on German channels Sat.1 and Sky).
Question: Jupp Heynckes, with Mario Gomez leaving it very late to score the winning goal, Bayern celebrated another last-minute victory…
Jupp Heynckes: Yes, but it was well deserved, too. Real came out of the blocks the better team and played very well for the first 15 minutes, but then we took charge of the game. My players showed everything I asked from them – passion, sacrifice, hunger for the ball. And don't forget that we haven't seen two run-of-the-mill teams here but two real champions. Ours was a deserved win over an excellent Madrid side.
Question: How do you rate Howard Webb's refereeing performance?
Heynckes: It's in the nature of the game that any referee's calls will always be debated, discussed, or questioned for whatever reason. Cases in point are Marcelo's foul on Thomas Müller or our first goal (with Luis Gustavo in an alleged offside position; DFB.de), which I think he was right to allow. A few minor things apart, he had a good match.
Question:: And Mario Gomez?
Heynckes: Mario and Franck Ribéry were clearly our best players on the night, especially Mario with his incredible work rate, constantly calling for the ball, hardly ever losing possession, running his socks off for us for the full 90 minutes. His goal was the finest reward. The same can be said for Ribéry.
Question: Real Madrid midfield schemer Mesut Özil scored the equalizer but was taken off surprisingly early by your counterpart, José Mourinho – would you say this worked in your favour?
Heynckes: At that stage, Özil looked a bit tired, so José must have thought he needed to react. It's what we coaches are paid to do! Obviously, having plenty of world-class subs available on the bench makes some decisions easier to take.
Question: By giving away the ball, Bastian Schweinsteiger was at the start of a chain reaction that led to Real scoring. You took him off after 60 minutes.
Heynckes: That's right, but not because I thought he was to blame in any way! Real just capitalized on our unorganized defence, that's all. I think he played very well.
Question: No pre-match doubts about including him in the starting line-up?
Heynckes: Bastian is a top strategist with loads of experience, so there was never any doubt in my mind about him starting the game. But having played a full 90 minutes last week for the first time in months, he still needs to be rested. I'm happy he stayed the course for 60 minutes, next there'll be another 60 minutes against Bremen on Saturday, and hopefully he'll go the full 90 minutes in Madrid.
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Question: And what marching orders will you be giving?
Heynckes: We'll stay true to FC Bayern's philosophy – playing forward-oriented football, trying to create goal-scoring opportunities. My team have it in them to score one or two goals in any match, even in Madrid. I'm not a defensively-minded coach; we're going to play for a win, not a draw. But it'll be a very hard piece of work.
Question: With seven of your players cautioned, picking up another yellow card in the second-leg match means they'd be suspended for the final…
Heynckes: Yes, but my players know how to prevent that from happening, as long as they act cool, calm and collected and focus 100 percent on events on the pitch. They're a pretty intelligent bunch who can tell a clean tackle from a foul.
