Madrid are not that special claims Matthaus

Former Bayern Munich captain Lothar Matthaus believes his old team can defeat Real Madrid in the last sixteen of the Champions League claiming the Spanish champions are "nothing special".

Matthaus, now coach of the Hugarian national team, faced Real with Partizan Belgrade in this season's opening Champions League group phase with his debutants losing 1-0 the Santiago Bernabeu before drawing 0-0 in Belgrade.

"Madrid are beatable and I saw that first hand in the two games against Partizan Belgrade," Matthaus said in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine.

"I am convinced that Bayern can make the quarter finals at Madrid's expense if they remain compact and keep a tight rein on Zinedine Zidane."

Real are strong favourites to progress from the two-leg encounter, starting at the Olympic Stadium on February 24, but Matthaus insists Madrid are not to be feared despite having Brazilian Roberto Carlos, French playmaker Zidane and England captain David Beckham in their ranks.

"Real are nothing special as far as I am concerned," stated Matthaus. "They have great individual players but they are not as strong as everyone thinks."

"Over 180 minutes they only scored one goal against us (Partizan Belgrade) and that was offside."

It is the fourth time the two powerhouses of European football have locked horns in this competition during the past five seasons with Bayern winning six of the eight games since February 2000.