European giants Bayern Munich and Real Madrid meet in a monumental encounter as the race for the Champions League title starts in earnest on Tuesday. The pair - who have 13 European Cup wins between them - meet in chilly Bavaria with Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld hoping the elements can turn the last 16 tie in his side's favour. LIVE from 18:30CET!
"We ordered the weather," Hitzfeld told a news conference. "The southerners don't like playing in the snow but we're used to it. Let's hope it will play in our favour."
"We are outsiders and that will give us wings," Hitzfeld added. "I trust my team but they have to give it all they have."
The double Champions League-winner knows his side will have to raise their game above the mediocrity they have displayed in the Bundesliga - second, they trail Werder Bremen by seven points - and which saw them scrape through the group phases unconvincingly.
But Carlos Queiroz is aware his Liga-leading Real - whose historical record in southern Germany reads played seven, lost seven - will have to live up to their potential to beat a competitive if unspectacular German outfit.
Queiroz said: "From now, we are in the old European Cup style...Straight knock outs...and we know that sooner or later we had to meet one of the biggest. Now we have to play Bayern and we don't mind if it's in the last 16 or the quarter-finals."
But the former Manchester United number two added: "It's the kind of match in which one has to work hard and give 100% in order to win. However, the game will be decided on the small details that quality players are able to come up with."
And quality players are something Queiroz has in abundance, as he is expected to line-up his intimidating constellation of galacticos at the Olympic Stadium, though David Beckham risks missing the return leg in Spain if he picks up a yellow card on Tuesday night.
LIZARAZU: 'WE MUST STICK TOGETHER'
While Queiroz is banking on Real's individual brilliance to see his side through, French international defender Bixente Lizarazu believes the unshakeable solidarity of the Bayern squad could be a decisive factor in his team's favour.
"Our strength is the collective and that could make us winners. We don't have the individual players like Real that can make a difference at any moment. We do not have the top five players in the world. We have good, but not the best players - we have to remember that. That's why we need to work more as a collective than the others to win."
Bayern's two genuine stars - Michael Ballack and Oliver Kahn - are both now expected to play, allaying fears over the weekend they may miss the game through illness and injury.
And Kahn says the unfamiliar role as underdogs will spur his side on.
"For once we're not the favourites and that changes the whole picture," said the Bayern captain. "We have nothing to lose."
He added: "The match is like a final for every player. We don't have to motivate anybody because everyone is automatically motivated and I saw in training that the team is focussed and under pressure - that is very important now. And we will unleash it at the decisive moment."
Follow the Champions League from 18:30CET with Lokomotiv Moscow welcoming Monaco to the Russian capital, before the three other games of the evening, including Bayern v Real Madrid, from 20:45CET LIVE on eurosport.com!
http://www.eurosport.com
"We ordered the weather," Hitzfeld told a news conference. "The southerners don't like playing in the snow but we're used to it. Let's hope it will play in our favour."
"We are outsiders and that will give us wings," Hitzfeld added. "I trust my team but they have to give it all they have."
The double Champions League-winner knows his side will have to raise their game above the mediocrity they have displayed in the Bundesliga - second, they trail Werder Bremen by seven points - and which saw them scrape through the group phases unconvincingly.
But Carlos Queiroz is aware his Liga-leading Real - whose historical record in southern Germany reads played seven, lost seven - will have to live up to their potential to beat a competitive if unspectacular German outfit.
Queiroz said: "From now, we are in the old European Cup style...Straight knock outs...and we know that sooner or later we had to meet one of the biggest. Now we have to play Bayern and we don't mind if it's in the last 16 or the quarter-finals."
But the former Manchester United number two added: "It's the kind of match in which one has to work hard and give 100% in order to win. However, the game will be decided on the small details that quality players are able to come up with."
And quality players are something Queiroz has in abundance, as he is expected to line-up his intimidating constellation of galacticos at the Olympic Stadium, though David Beckham risks missing the return leg in Spain if he picks up a yellow card on Tuesday night.
LIZARAZU: 'WE MUST STICK TOGETHER'
While Queiroz is banking on Real's individual brilliance to see his side through, French international defender Bixente Lizarazu believes the unshakeable solidarity of the Bayern squad could be a decisive factor in his team's favour.
"Our strength is the collective and that could make us winners. We don't have the individual players like Real that can make a difference at any moment. We do not have the top five players in the world. We have good, but not the best players - we have to remember that. That's why we need to work more as a collective than the others to win."
Bayern's two genuine stars - Michael Ballack and Oliver Kahn - are both now expected to play, allaying fears over the weekend they may miss the game through illness and injury.
And Kahn says the unfamiliar role as underdogs will spur his side on.
"For once we're not the favourites and that changes the whole picture," said the Bayern captain. "We have nothing to lose."
He added: "The match is like a final for every player. We don't have to motivate anybody because everyone is automatically motivated and I saw in training that the team is focussed and under pressure - that is very important now. And we will unleash it at the decisive moment."
Follow the Champions League from 18:30CET with Lokomotiv Moscow welcoming Monaco to the Russian capital, before the three other games of the evening, including Bayern v Real Madrid, from 20:45CET LIVE on eurosport.com!
http://www.eurosport.com
