Bayern coach counts on pride and snow to tame Real

Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld believes being outsiders -- and playing in awful weather -- could inspire Bayern Munich in their Champions League clash against Real Madrid on Tuesday.

"We ordered the weather," Hitzfeld told a news conference in the snow-covered Bavarian city on Monday. "The southerners don't like playing in the snow but we're used to it. Let's hope it will play in our favour."

Club president Franz Beckenbauer rated Bayern's chances of overcoming Real at "30 percent maximum" but Hitzfeld was a bit more confident before the first leg of the first knockout round tie in Munich.

"We are outsiders and that will give us wings," Hitzfeld said. "I trust my team but they have to give it all they have." Hitzfeld was also pleased that goalkeeper Oliver Kahn and playmaker Michael Ballack should be fit.

Kahn and Ballack, who missed Saturday's 1-0 Bundesliga win over Hamburg SV because of a sore back and bronchitis respectively, have resumed training.

Saturday's laboured win over Hamburg, and more generally their form this season, suggest Bayern will struggle against Zidane, Ronaldo and company.

But Bayern can turn to history for inspiration, having won their previous seven home European Cup games against Real.

"For once we're not the favourites and that changes the whole picture," said Kahn, the Bayern captain. "We have nothing to lose."