Real not favourites against Bayern, says Del Bosque

Real Madrid coach Vicente Del Bosque has rejected his team's tag as favourites in Tuesday's Champions League semifinal, first leg against Bayern Munich. "The outcome of the match is very uncertain," Del Bosque told a news conference on Monday. "Two teams who have been and still are at the top of European football are facing each other in the match, and both sides have a similar potential."

Real have won all seven of this season's Champions League matches at the Bernabeu and also have the competition's top scorer in Raul. But Del Bosque made it clear Real would not be underestimating the German side. "Bayern are a strong, competitive team that are strong in all areas of the game. They are always well-positioned on the pitch and know how to play counter-attack football to perfection."

Del Bosque does not believe the semifinal will be decided in the first leg. "Whatever the result at the Bernabeu it will not be decisive and, even though it would be nice to keep a clean sheet in the first leg, that will not guarantee that we make the final." The Real coach had similar doubts about the eventual
winners' chances of going on to take the tournament. "Two other very strong teams are playing in the other
semifinal and they have an equal chance of winning the competition," he said of the clash between the team Real beat in last season's final, Valencia, and Leeds United.

Real's 19-year-old goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who played in last year's semifinal victory over the German side, played down talk of Bayern approaching the game intent on revenge. "We too want our revenge, because they beat us on three out of the four occasions we played against each other last season. So both teams will be equally motivated," Casillas said. "It is vital for us not to concede goals at home, and it would also be nice to score a couple. But I know it is going to be very difficult though because they are such a strong team in defence."

The young keeper said he was wary of the threat Bayern posed from set-pieces. "They have some very intelligent players like (Mehmet) Scholl and (Stefan) Effenberg who are very dangerous in such situations," he said. But Casillas said Real were in better shape than at the same stage last year. "We have signed some new players and now we are leading the league and that gives us that extra bit of confidence as we approach the match."