Bayern coach Hitzfeld praises solid home record

Bayern Munich trainer Ottmar Hitzfeld said his team's "fantastic" 2-1 win over Real Madrid to secure their place against Valencia in the Champions League final was a testament to their strength at home.

Bayern have lost just three out of 74 home European Cup and Champions League games -- and have never lost at home in the competition by more than one goal. "My team put in a fantastic performance. And we are a team that can always score goals at home. We had plenty of chances to win by an even bigger margin," Hitzfeld said.
"It was a sensational performance to beat Real Madrid twice. It's a great feeling to be in the final again. Some of the experts might be surprised, but I'm not because I know just what my team can do." Now Bayern will hope to carry their strength in defence to the San Siro stadium in Milan on May 23 where they face another famously mean defence in Valencia.

Real Madrid trainer Vicente del Bosque praised Bayern's performance but said it was difficult to break down the home side's defensive wall. "That was a notable but not a great performance by us. We had very strong opponents. Bayern played with five defenders and we couldn't get around that," del Bosque said.

DEFENSIVE WALL

Real Madrid put Bayern under a lot of pressure, particularly in the second half. While Bayern occasionally found the pace and trickery of Roberto Carlos hard to counter, solid defending by Ghana's Sammy Kuffour, Germany's Thomas Linke and Sweden's Patrik Andersson kept Real out.

Luis Figo's first-half goal against the run of play surprised Bayern's commercial manager Uli Hoeness, who said he never doubted the outcome. "The counter goal didn't fit into my concept and it was lucky it came in the first half. We played more defensively in the second half," he said. "Bayern Munich is possibly the best football team in the world," said Hoeness.

Brazilian striker Elber joked about the rash of injuries which have plagued Bayern in recent weeks and almost ruled out himself, Jens Jeremies and Mehmet Scholl. "My goal is dedicated to the medical team. A big fat kiss to
(team doctor) Mueller-Wohlfahrt. Without his excellent work Jeremies and I wouldn't have been there," Elber said.

Bayern need to hold their defensive nerve to help them make amends for losing 2-1 to Manchester United at Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium in the 1999 final after conceding two goals in injury-time. Scholl warned against getting too excited ahead of the final, particularly with the 1999 result in mind. "We haven't done it yet. Valencia are a dangerous side with excellent players. We have a brutal game ahead of us," Scholl said.