Pep hails ‘best’ hour at Bayern

Pep Guardiola has hailed his ‘best’ hour at Bayern Munich after steering the holders to the Champions League’s semifinals as they bid to reach their fourth final in five years. 

Holders Bayern had to come from behind before romping to a 3-1 victory at home to Manchester United at Munich’s Allianz Arena in Wednesday’s quarterfinal, second-leg to win the tie 4-2 on aggregate. 

‘We are in the semi finals, so I’m very, very proud of my team,’ said Guardiola after goals by Mario Mandzukic, Thomas Mueller and Arjen Robben cancelled out Patrice Evra’s superb second-half strike for United. ‘I’m happy. My players have huge hearts. This is the best part of the season for me, now we’re in a superior situation.’ 

‘I often get asked which team I want, but each side has their own qualities. Real have superior players with enormous qualities, such as (Cristiano) Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso, (Gareth) Bale etc,’ he said. 

On simifinal, Pep said, ‘Atletico are pure passion and it’s their first time in this situation. Chelsea have a lot of experience, with players like Petr Cech, (Branislav) Ivanovic, (Frank) Lampard and the Blues have a trainer with a lot of experience too. Each team have their own strengths and we’ll analyse them as well as possible.’