Sport

Klinsmann wants players to restore Bayern's battered pride

Bayern Munich v Barcelona: BAYERN MUNICH want to restore their battered pride with a win against Barcelona in the Champions …

Tue Apr 14 2009 - 01:00

Bayern Munich v Barcelona:BAYERN MUNICH want to restore their battered pride with a win against Barcelona in the Champions League tonight even if overturning a 4-0 first-leg deficit is unlikely, coach Jürgen Klinsmann said yesterday.

The German champions say they have no real chance of progressing after the Spaniards scored four times in the first half of last week’s quarter-final first leg.

“After what we have been through in Barcelona we will not start dreaming and say we will fire four or five goals past them but it would be great to beat that team,” said Klinsmann.

“We want to beat Barcelona so that we say goodbye with respect and in a proper way. We want to show passion and fighting spirit to our fans and offer a good game to restore our relationship.

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It is all about showing where the team is in relation to this top competition.”

No team has ever overturned a 4-0 first-leg deficit in the Champions League.

Bayern will have defenders Lucio and Philipp Lahm back after they missed the first leg through injury. “We want to put the humiliation of last week right,” Lahm said. “We have to play 100 per cent if we are to beat Barcelona.”

Defender Daniel van Buyten has also returned from a trip to Belgium for personal reasons and is at Klinsmann’s disposal.

Klinsmann said 34-year-old goalkeeper Hans Joerg Butt, who made a surprise appearance for Bayern in last week’s defeat, would start again.

Michael Rensing, who had been his first choice throughout the season, has suddenly been sidelined prompting speculation that Bayern are in the market for a new number one.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has warned his players to expect a backlash. “Bayern are capable of scoring four goals, all the more so when they are wounded,” Guardiola said. “I don’t believe the statements about them already having given the tie up for lost,” he said. “I am sure they will put in a good performance and we have to go there with a lot of ambition to win the match. If we are speculative they will roll over us.”

The former Barcelona and Spain midfielder will have to watch the match from the stands after being dismissed from the bench in the first leg and seeing his appeal with Uefa rejected.

Central defender Rafael Marquez is suspended after picking up a yellow card at the Nou Camp.