Qualification for the quarterfinal stage of the UEFA Champions League is still very much dicey for the quartet of Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Lyon, and Barcelona.
The first leg games involving the four teams ended in barren draws on Tuesday night.
Liverpool was left frustrated by German champions Bayern Munich at Anfield in a goalless first leg to their Champions League last-16 tie.
Goals were predicted on Merseyside in a battle between two five-time champions of this competition, but shots on target were few and far between on a night of little drama.
Joel Matip squandered the best opportunity of the match in the first half and Sadio Mane also came close on a couple of occasions, though the Reds could not find a breakthrough and now have a tough task in the reverse fixture in three weeks’ time
Each of Bayern Munich’s last three visits to Anfield in European competition have finished 0-0, with the Germans now having failed to score in all four of their away games against Liverpool.
Also, Tuesday’s game was Jurgen Klopp’s 30th meeting with Bayern Munich as manager – he has lost 16 of the previous 29 matches, more than against any other opponent.
In a similar fashion, Lyon and Barcelona played out a goalless draw in the first leg of their own last-16 Champions League clash in France on Tuesday night.
Both teams had opportunities to register during the 90 minutes, but the result means that the tie is delicately poised ahead of the second leg at Camp Nou on March 13.
Niko Kovac confirmed Friday that Germany star Jerome Boateng will stay at Bayern Munich, despite weeks of negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain, but Juan Bernat is poised to join the French champions.
With the transfer window to close at 1600 GMT in Germany and France, Bayern’s head coach confirmed Boateng, 29, will not join PSG, despite negotiations, but Spain left-back Bernat is set to sign for the French champions for 15 million euros ($17.5m).
“Jerome is a world-class centre-back. It is all about him staying fit and free from injury, then I am convinced that he will be able to help not only FC Bayern, but also Germany’s national team,” said Kovac.
“The same applies for Mats Hummels and Niklas Suele.
“I do not know if there is a club in Europe that has three centre-backs like that.
“It’s important to be able to rotate.
“Jerome is an absolute professional and will give his all for this club.”
Kovac revealed Bernat, David Alaba’s under-study at Bayern, is set to be the last player the Munich club will sell in the current transfer window.
“Juan is in Paris and will probably sign a contract there, apart from that there will be no more activity before 1800 (when the transfer window closes) – we have agreed on that,” said Kovac.
“We have 19 outfield players, one of whom is injured (Kingsley Coman) and we will certainly use Under-23 players if the need arises.”
Should Bernat put pen to paper for PSG, he will be the third Bayern player to leave in recent weeks after Arturo Vidal joined Barcelona and Sebastian Rudy quit on Monday for Schalke.
Bayern are at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday in the Bundesliga with a point after Munich crashed to a 4-1 home defeat the last time the club’s met under Kovac’s predecessor Jupp Heynckes.
“No one likes that, especially not my lads,” said Kovac after Bayern beat Hoffenheim 3-1 on the opening weekend of the season when Stuttgart lost 1-0 at Mainz.
“They are highly motivated to erase that one.”
AFP
Bayern Munich have again qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League, but head coach Jupp Heynckes admits any aspirations of finishing top of their group are “wishful thinking”.
Javi Martinez’s late header put Bayern into the Champions League knockout phase for the tenth season in a row by sealing a 2-1 win over Celtic at Parkhead on Tuesday.
“The priority was to reach the knockout stages, which we did, everything else is wishful thinking. It’s going to be difficult to finish in first place,” said Heynckes.
“With the 3-0 win in the first leg, Paris Saint-Germain have a huge advantage.”
Both Bayern and leaders PSG are guaranteed to progress from Group B following Tuesday’s results, as the French giants trounced Anderlecht 5-0 in Paris.
PSG have a perfect four wins from four games with 17 goals scored and none conceded, including the 3-0 rout of Bayern at the Parc de Princes in September which cost Heynckes’s predecessor Carlo Ancelotti his job.
If Bayern win at Anderlecht in three weeks’ time, and PSG also beat Celtic at home, December’s final round of matches will see the Germans host the Parisians in a showdown at the Allianz Arena.
In that scenario, Heynckes knows that only a 4-0 win over PSG would be good enough to see Bayern top the group and potentially avoid a more difficult last-16 opponent.
– Heynckes impact –
The win at Celtic was achieved without top scorer Robert Lewandowski, who was sidelined by a thigh injury.
In his absence, attacking midfielder James Rodriguez played out of position up front as Kingsley Coman gave Bayern a first-half lead after a mix-up in the Celtic defence.
Callum McGregor equalised for Celtic in the second half, only for a bloodied Martinez to restore Bayern’s lead 13 minutes from time.
“That wasn’t our best game, but it was our third match in six days. We were effective,” said veteran Arjen Robben, referring to Bayern’s cup and league wins last week over RB Leipzig.
Bayern are unbeaten in the 72-year-old Heynckes’s six games in charge.
In the Bundesliga, they are three points clear at the top of the table ahead of Borussia Dortmund, whom they travel to on Saturday.
“We’re ahead, we have won everything with the new coach,” added Robben.
Heynckes has put Bayern back on track in the four weeks since he took over for a fourth stint.
The upcoming clash at Dortmund and next month’s Champions League tie against PSG are Bayern’s main tests before Christmas.
Heynckes has instilled discipline in the Bayern dressing room, which Ancelotti had lost, and has regular one-on-one meetings to explain decisions and motivate his players.
He speaks Spanish with Rodriguez to help the Colombian settle in Munich following his loan move from Real Madrid and is nurturing stand-in goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, the man tasked with the considerable job of filling in for Manuel Neuer.
Lewandowski back-up
However, by their own admission Bayern need cover for Lewandowski.
“It would be nice if I had a little more rest,” Lewandowski told Kicker magazine this week.
“No player can play 90 minutes, every three days over a whole season.”
His point was proven at Celtic where teenager Manuel Wintzheimer was hastily promoted from the Under-19s as the only striker in the senior squad.
“Robert Lewandowski is never injured,” said chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge last year to justify not having a second centre-forward in the squad.
The Polish striker missed just one Champions League game last season — the crucial quarter-final home tie against Real Madrid where Bayern lost 2-1 before being eliminated following a 4-2 extra-time defeat in Madrid.
Bayern will use the winter break to search for some back-up for Lewandowski.
“But we are not going to buy a player in a hurry,” said director of sport Hasan Salihamidzic.
“We’ll need to find a forward who can advance the team while being able to double for Lewandowski.”
Arjen Robben has announced his retirement from international football, after scoring twice as Holland beat Sweden 2-0 in a 2018 World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.
The Bayern Munich winger revealed his decision, after it was confirmed that the Dutch will not be at the tournament in Russia next year.
“I want to focus on my club career now,” Robben told reporters after the game.
“It’s a good time to pass the torch to the next generation,” he added.
Robben, 33, started playing for his senior national team in 2003 and scored 37 goals in 96 matches.
Bundesliga giant, Bayern Munich has named Jupp Heynckes as head coach until the end of the 2017/18 season following the sack of Carlo Ancelotti last week.
The German champion made the announcement on their website on Thursday.
The 72-year-old retired from football following the 2012/13 season, in which he led the Bavarians to an unprecedented treble of Bundesliga, DFB Cup and UEFA Champions League titles.
Heynckes also bagged the FIFA World Coach of the Year award in 2013.
Ancelotti was relieved of his duties in the wake of Bayern’s disappointing start to the current campaign, with a 3-0 defeat away to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League proving to be the final straw for the club’s hierarchy.
Assistant coach and former Bayern right-back Willy Sagnol took over the reins of first-team for Matchday 7, a 2-2 draw away to Hertha Berlin that leaves them five points behind Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund.
This will be Heynckes’ fourth spell at the club, having previously been at the helm from 1987-1991, a five-game spell in 2009, and again from 2011-2013.
German champions, Bayern Munich, on Thursday sacked head coach, Carlo Ancelotti a day after they lost 3-0 at Paris St Germain in the Champions League.
Ancelotti joined Bayern last season and won the Bundesliga title in his debut campaign.
The Italian led Bayern to the quarterfinals of the 2016/17 Champions League but was eliminated by the eventual winners – Real Madrid.
Bayern are currently in third place in the Bundesliga, three points off leaders Borussia Dortmund.
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