The next duel of the Champions League is against the “invincible” opponent for the Wankend FC Bayern. A former player arranges.
On the way to the “Finale Dahoam”, FC Bayern is standing in front of a summit in the round of 16 of the Champions League. The opponent is called Bayer Leverkusen, but Bayern have had no good experiences in the recent past. The Munich team could never win in six games against coach Xabi Alonso. In the current season there were two draws in the Bundesliga and a defeat in the DFB Cup. Is the end of all title dreams in the “premier class”?
Former goalkeeper René Adler sees at least a realistic success on the side of the Leverkuseners: “The chance has never been so big to beat Bavaria in their own competition,” he says in an interview with T-online. This is mainly due to the master’s energy: “Bayer is currently working more as a collective.”
The Bavarians and Leverkusen only faced each other in the Bundesliga in mid -February. Although the game ended in 0-0 draw, the Werkself dominated the game. The Munich team did not give a shot in the first half. While experts titled Bayern as “outsiders”, Captain Manuel Neuer also had to admit after the game: “Of course, our ideal performance looks very different. But what we did not bring forward today, we brought defensively on the pitch.”
In the round of 16, however, a stable Bayern defensive alone is not enough, Adler is certain. “You have to be active and throw everything in,” the 40-year-old demands the German record champion. “Currently, nothing is as easy with Bayern as at the beginning of the season. You have to fight for everything.” The time when Bayern win one game after the other without conceding a goal – as it was in autumn – is over.
FC Bayern stumbled several times in the Champions League. In Birmingham (against Aston Villa) and in Rotterdam (against Feyenoord) it made surprising defeats. In the play-off second leg against Celtic Glasgow, Bavaria trembled in his own Alliance Arena with the equalizer just before the end in the round of 16 (1-1).
Now the German duel is waiting against Leverkusen. In the Champions League, the workself qualified with five wins from eight games directly for the round of 16, has a conditional advantage.
The fact that the two teams are now facing each other has already seen, said: “Respect on both sides is there”, but his tip goes clearly to Leverkusen. “Happiness is also decisive.”
The clubs’ reactions to the lot turned out differently. Bavaria’s veteran Thomas Müller joked after the draw: “Leverkusen is clearly the favorite and we as an absolutely blatant outsider naturally want to prove ourselves there, dear experts.” Bayern sports director Max Eberl recalled “exciting duels”, but also warned: “We saw how difficult this task will be.”
Leverkusen’s sports director Simon Rolfes said about the draw: “Certainly a team that we know well.” The opponent himself knows Leverkusen as well. “This is a round of 16 at a high level.” The German duel starts on March 5 with the first leg in Munich. The decision about the quarter-finals are then made in Leverkusen six days later.