Bayern out for revenge

Bayern Munich boss Jupp Heynckes wants his team to go prove they are potential Champions League winners. (AP)

LONDON: Bayern Munich have been told to avenge their 3-0 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain in September and show “Europe what they can do” when they face the French side in the Champions League tonight.
That was the message from Bayern boss Jupp Heynckes whose side go into the clash at the Allianz Arena with the humiliation at the hands of the moneybags club still fresh in the memory.
Dani Alves, Edinson Cavani and Neymar all scored at the Parc de Princes as PSG made an emphatic statement of intent.
The chastening defeat led to panic mode in Munich — the German giants firing Carlo Ancelotti and replacing him with Heynckes as head coach. Since then, Bayern have won ten of their 11 games and once again look like one of the best sides in Europe.
With both teams through to the last 16, Bayern need to beat PSG by four goals at the Allianz Arena to grab top spot in the group off PSG.
But for Heynckes, whatever the result, it is important that Bayern lay down a marker for the knockout stages in the new year.
“We want to beat them and show off what we are capable of. Everything else is far from realistic,” Heynckes said.
That message was received loud and clear by his players with Sven Ulreich (pictured) claiming the German giants have a score to settle regardless of the result and are out for revenge.
“Of course we want revenge, it will be difficult to win the group, but it’s about prestige and we want to show the first leg was just a slip-up,” Ulreich, the Bayern goalkeeper said.
Ancelotti dropped senior stars Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels from his starting line-up in Paris for the heavy away defeat just over two months ago.
But while that match ended with the Germans in disarray, it is the side from the French capital that go into the clash with lots of question marks hanging over them. And that hasn’t gone unnoticed in Munich.
Bayern’s hopes received a boost on Saturday as PSG suffered their first French league defeat this season, crashing 2-1 at Racing Strasbourg, while the Germans beat Hanover 96 3-1 in Bavaria.
“It was a very depressing evening for us in Paris, we did not play well, there wasn’t much order at the back,” said Ulreich, who took over when Manuel Neuer suffered a fractured foot in September.
“We have to put things right (today) and show who we are.
“It’s a special match for all of us.
“The Champions League, against PSG, in front of a sold-out crowd in Munich — these are the games you dreamed about as a little boy.”
Ulreich is tipping Bayern to win 2-0 at home and says the current squad can go far in the knockout stages.
“When everyone is fit, we have a lot of potential in the squad and I see our prospects as being
very positive, but we need all our players to do that, but I am confident,” he said.
The confidence at the club is doubtless down to Heynckes’ return.
Former AC Milan and Chelsea boss Ancelotti had lost his dressing room long before the PSG hammering with Arjen Robben quipping that training sessions at his son’s junior team in Munich were tougher than what had become the norm at Bayern. But Heynckes tightened discipline immediately.
He insists on politeness and punctuality at all times. Mobile phones are expected to be neither seen nor heard and training sessions start an hour earlier than under Ancelotti.