Heynckes hails Bayern’s dynamic duo

Boss pleased with attacking prowess

By Zain Alvi | 18th April 2012

Bayern Munich manager Jupp Heynckes has congratulated his entire team for delivering on his instructions during the club’s famous 2-1 win at home to Real Madrid last night, with particular praise reserved for the goal scorers Franck Ribery and Mario Gomez.

Ribery opened the scoring for the hosts in the 17th minute at the Allianz Arena and although the Bundesliga outfit continued to attack confidently following the Frenchman’s strike, they were pegged back shortly after the interval.

After Cristiano Ronaldo had incredibly missed an opportunity to beat Manuel Neuer one-on-one in the Bayern goal, some scrappy defending allowed the Portuguese star to set-up Germany international Mesut Ozil for Real’s equalizer.

Conceding a demoralizing away goal did not deter Bayern, though, as they continued their pursuit of a win, which was eventually sealed with a clinical late finish from Gomez.

While Madrid boss Jose Mourinho remains confident that the La Liga leaders will turn the tie around in the second leg, Heynckes – who was sacked by Real despite guiding them to European glory in 1998 – is focused on the credentials of his own side.

“We delivered the things I had asked for yesterday. We showed passion, lust and were hungry for success, which is exactly what you need in the Champions League semi-finals. My players did just that today,” Heynckes said in his post-match press conference.

The manager added: “Madrid are a classy team, you don’t win against them without any problems and I’m very satisfied with our overall performance. After they made it 1-1, Madrid played quite well for ten minutes, then we took control and you could see the power and passion of my team.”

When asked to comment on the focus of his team’s scorers, Heynckes continued: “The winning goal is what Mario Gomez is all about. He needs crosses, he anticipates them very well and he was just in the right place for that goal. He played a great game today, he ran a lot, tried to win every ball and was very strong.

“But the best player on the pitch today was Franck Ribéry,” the manager remarked about the resilient winger.”

Lastly, Heynckes also made it clear that the attacking potential displayed by his side should be carried over to their approach for the second leg in Madrid a week from today.

“In Madrid we need to score a goal rather than try to park the bus,” Heynckes asserted with confidence.