Bayern’s Guardiola ready for ‘dangerous’ Gladbach
9 Aug 2013 5:44 AM IST
Pep Guardiola has insisted he is ready to cope with the weight of expectation on him as Bayern Munich kick-off the Bundesliga season on Friday by hosting Borussia Moenchengladbach.
The 42-year-old ex-Barcelona boss has had just under eight weeks to work with the German champions; who host ‘Gladbach at Munich’s Allianz Arena in the season opener.
Bayern are likely to be without new signing Thiago Alcantara for the game as the Spain Under-21 captain missed training on Thursday with a fever. Having already overseen 11 pre-season matches, with the shock 4-2 German Super Cup loss at Borussia Dortmund a fortnight ago as the only defeat, Guardiola had some lighthearted advice for his players.
‘Get the ball, have fun and attack as much as possible,’ he said. ‘And if Gladbach have the ball, help each other -- and win.’ Simple enough, but Guardiola knows he is under pressure to repeat last season’s success under predecessor Jupp Heynckes, when Bayern became the first German team to win the treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup.
‘I have to win here,’ he stressed, having taken charge of Bayern after a year’s sabbatical in New York. ‘If I hadn’t accepted that, I would have stayed in New York.’
The 42-year-old ex-Barcelona boss has had just under eight weeks to work with the German champions; who host ‘Gladbach at Munich’s Allianz Arena in the season opener.
Bayern are likely to be without new signing Thiago Alcantara for the game as the Spain Under-21 captain missed training on Thursday with a fever. Having already overseen 11 pre-season matches, with the shock 4-2 German Super Cup loss at Borussia Dortmund a fortnight ago as the only defeat, Guardiola had some lighthearted advice for his players.
‘Get the ball, have fun and attack as much as possible,’ he said. ‘And if Gladbach have the ball, help each other -- and win.’ Simple enough, but Guardiola knows he is under pressure to repeat last season’s success under predecessor Jupp Heynckes, when Bayern became the first German team to win the treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup.
‘I have to win here,’ he stressed, having taken charge of Bayern after a year’s sabbatical in New York. ‘If I hadn’t accepted that, I would have stayed in New York.’
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