Chairman: A tough but attractive draw

Bayern have been paired with Juventus in the last sixteen of the Champions League. “It’s a very tough but also very attractive draw,” commented Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. fcbayern.de rounds up the reaction to Monday’s draw.

Reaction to Monday’s draw

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: “It’s a very tough but also very attractive draw. There are quite a few reunions, including one with our former striker Mario Mandzukic. We’ll need two very good performances against the Italian champions if we’re to reach the quarter-finals.”

Matthias Sammer: “They’re attractive opponents and we know them very well. Most recently, we knocked them out in our victorious 2012/13 Champions League campaign. Juventus had a few problems at the start of the season but they’re now in very good shape again. If we want to be among the top eight in Europe, we’ll need to be on top form twice against Juventus.”

Philipp Lahm: “It’s a great clash between two top teams, a classic European fixture. Juve made the final last season so this is a big challenge, but we want to reach the quarter-finals and we’ll give everything we have.”

Thomas Müller: “Juventus are a very smart team and they obviously have a top striker in Mario Mandzukic, who we know all about after his spell in Munich. We’ve always enjoyed our meetings with Juve in the Champions League. I’m really looking forward to the stadium in Turin, it’ll be a great experience.”

Jérôme Boateng: “They’re strong opponents, clinical and tactically outstanding. We’re still favourites but we’ll need two very good performances if we’re to go through.”

Pavel Nedved (Juventus vice-president): “It’ll be very difficult for us, Bayern are an outstanding team. But I believe we have a chance, because even Bayern aren’t unbeatable and we’ve improved significantly in Europe in recent years.”