Munich must regroup in bid for place in home final

By John Bagratuni Feb 23, 2012, 12:01 GMT

Berlin - Bayern Munich were licking their wounds on Thursday after their ambition to reach the Champions League final in the home stadium took a big hit.

Munich crashed 1-0 at Swiss side Basel from Valentin Stocker's late goal in a round of 16 match.

They now need to win by at least two goals in the return leg on March 14 to stay on course towards the May 19 final in the Allianz Arena where they want to lift Europe's most prestigious club trophy a fifth time.

While reversing a one-goal deficit is generally not uncommon, Munich are confronted with bad omens and Wednesday's game was also another indication that things are not going according to plan at Germany's number one club.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said that the team was 'gutted' and there was reportedly a war of words between players in the Basle dressing room.

Munich will have to defy the odds next month to reach the quarter-finals as they have only reversed defeat away from home once on four previous occasions in the Champions League.

Basel will be no pushover, as proved by Wednesday's game and the fact that the Swiss reached the knockout stages at the expense of Manchester United, beating the Premier League champions 2-1 at home and drawing 3-3 at Old Trafford in the group stage.

In order to stand a chance at all, Munich must now quickly regain their form in all aspects of the game on the domestic stage, starting with a difficult Bundesliga task against Schalke on Sunday.

Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge used the occasion of the traditional post-Champions League game dinner to tell the players that 'a critical moment' has been reached.

'You must wake up! You must be mean. It doesn't make sense to enter the pitch and believe that things will just work out. That won't be the case.'

'You must now play aggressively and pull the old Sepp Herberger adage of 'all for one and one for all' out of the magic hat. It starts on Sunday, gentlemen.'

Munich were strong in the Champions League group stage, appeared to run away with the league title in autumn and were still three points clear heading into the winter break.

But five rounds in 2012 have seen them fall four points behind champions Borussia Dortmund and Wednesday's defeat only added to the woes.

Munich have looked shaky in defence and the star-studded attack with the likes of Arjen Robben, Frank Ribery and Mario Gomez has failed to score in two-and-a-half games.

'It wasn't a great performance in the 0-0 draw with Freiburg (in the Bundesliga Saturday), and today we've even managed to lose 1-0. We have to try and turn the corner as fast as possible,' Rummenigge said.

In theory, a first title treble for a German club is still possible.

Apart from the Champions League, Munich are in the German cup semi-finals but face a difficult March 21 trip to Borussia Moenchengladbach who beat them in both Bundesliga season games.

The league will probably not be decided until mid-April when Dortmund face their three rivals Munich, Schalke and Moenchengladbach one after another over 12 days. However, Munich still have to be ready to pounce if Dortmund if Dortmund slip.

Success in the Champions League could boost their ambition and the defiant Bavarians are not ready to throw in the towel yet.

'In my opinion, 1-0 is a result which gives us every chance in the second leg,' said president Uli Hoeness. 'I am not at all worried that we won't be able to do it in the return leg. I am 100 per cent certain we will go through and that's what I told the team.'

Coach Jupp Heynckes also appeared calm for the time being.

'It's an uncomfortable situation, but I have been in these situations before in my coaching career,' he said.

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