Dark clouds shrouded the Bayern training ground on Monday, with on-off showers occasionally giving the site a good soaking. Ottmar Hitzfeld and his men have certainly had more pleasant conditions for their workouts at the Säbener Strasse, although the weather was the only negative factor at the practice session, as the Munich camp has already written off Saturday’s 2-0 defeat in Cottbus as “a bad day at the office”.
“I’m far too experienced not to know that you’ll get days like that every now and then,” captain Oliver Kahn reflected after the club’s second league defeat of term. “And we don’t have time to brood either,” the keeper added.
Reunion with Magath
The Bundesliga leaders are back in action on Wednesday in a DFB German Cup semi-final at home to VfL Wolfsburg. The team coached and managed by former Bayern boss Felix Magath won 1-0 away to Bremen on Sunday, knocking Bremen off second place, and simultaneously ensuring the lead enjoyed by Hitzfeld and his men was only cut to five points.
However, Magath’s Wolves will not be minded to do Bayern any favours in midweek. “They’re a very good team, slowly but surely bearing all the hallmarks of Felix Magath,” observed Bastian Schweinsteiger, although neither he nor Kahn felt the return of the former boss would act as additional motivation. “All that matters is getting to the final,” Kahn declared.
Neck troubling Sagnol
Bayern will once again be without Willy Sagnol, as the France right-back continued to struggle with a neck injury on Monday and reported to the medical unit for treatment. Luca Toni is also unavailable against Wolfsburg after a sending off for two bookable offences in the quarter-final against TSV 1860.
On the plus side, Martin Demichelis returns to the squad after a club suspension. “We’ve played poorly twice, against Anderlecht and Cottbus. We won’t lose three games in a row,” Kahn insisted. Should the keeper turn out to be wrong, the mood at the Säbener Strasse on Thursday would be downcast for reasons other than the weather.
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