Bayern Munich forward Thomas Müller does not agree with those who say his side need a ‘miracle’ to overcome a 3-0 deficit to Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals. Most bookmakers now have Barcelona as outright favourites in the UEFA Champions League betting tips to beat Bayern and then win in the final next month, but Bayern are still putting up a brave face.
Despite the fact that Bayern have been dealing with a massive injury toll – which has left Pep Guardiola’s squad depleted – many feel the manager made a number of mistakes before and during the match at the Camp Nou.
Without the injured trio of Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and David Alba, Guardiola began the match man-marking Barcelona all over the pitch. The one-on-one matchups between his defenders and Barcelona’s attacking trio of Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez led to goalkeeper Manuel Neuer having to bail Bayern Munich out with tremendous saves early on in the contest.
That said, the score remained 0-0 with 20 minutes to play before Guardiola altered his tactics. The manager switched to a back-four and if it weren’t for a giveaway in his own half by left-back Juan Bernat, Barcelona may not have scored.
However, the mistake by the Bayern defender allowed Lionel Messi to open the scoring and the floodgates soon opened up on the German champions.
Speaking today at his pre-match press conference, Müller was optimistic of his side’s chances of overturning the 3-0 scoreline, sighting Bayern’s recent 6-1 victory over Porto which reversed their 3-1 first leg deficit during the quarter-finals of the competition.
“I am very emotional on the pitch but now my feelings are very much in check,” Müller said. “I am not overexcited nor pessimistic, but we still have a chance.
“We are FC Bayern. It’s like before the Porto game. We will try our best, and in football anything can happen. Naturally I believe in us.
“Since last Wednesday we have been saying we still have a chance, but we need to play ever better. We did not play too badly last week. We still have hope.
“We have had a lot of injuries this season. Of course we would like to have more options, but we still have a good squad. With nearly the same team we beat Porto 6-1 a few weeks ago.
“Will, passion, the fans’ support – that is what we will need. I wouldn’t say that we need a miracle. If we do get through, the press can write that it was a miracle, but that’s not the way I would see it.
“We have nothing to lose. The players want it, the coach wants it – it is not over yet.
“Until the ref blows the final whistle, we have hope.”
Bayern have a 100% record in Munich during this season’s Champions League, and have scored 13 goals in their last two home games – beating Shakhtar Donetsk 7-0 in the Round of 16 and Porto 6-1 in the quarter-finals.
The five-time winners are attempting to reach their eleventh Champions League final.
Programming note: Bayern Munich vs. Barcelona will be shown LIVE on Tuesday at 2:45pm EST on FOX Sports 1 and FoxSoccer2Go.
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