Football
9y

Pep Guardiola: Bayern doctor quitting changes nothing; Philipp Lahm out

Pep Guardiola says he is still planning on being at Bayern Munich next season, despite four members of his medical team opting to quit the club this week.

Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt stepped down after 38 years at Bayern late on Thursday along with the rest of his staff, saying they had been blamed for the long list of injured players ahead of the 3-1 defeat by Porto in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.

However, Guardiola, who is contracted to Bayern until 2016, insists that the quartet's departure has not changed anything regarding his position at the club.

"I am very happy here. I want to fight with my players. And I want to still be at the club next season," he told a news conference ahead of Saturday's Bundesliga clash against Hoffenheim. "I am delighted to be the coach here, the players are my heroes."

Since beating Shakhtar Donetsk 7-0 in the Champions League round-of-16 second leg last month, Bayern have struggled with injuries. They have lost David Alaba, Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and Medhi Benatia, while Bastian Schweinsteiger has also been sidelined.

And on Saturday, Bayern will also be without captain Philipp Lahm, who is suffering with flu, Guardiola revealed.

"The perfect situation would be to have all top players available and rotate," he said. "Other clubs have full squads available. But we should not moan. Of course, we are stronger when we have those players. But when we lose it is my responsibility."

Bayern have a 10-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga and victory at Hoffenheim would take them one step closer to a third consecutive title. They are also in the semifinal of the DFB-Pokal, where they host Borussia Dortmund later this month.

Guardiola said he is currently focusing on overturning the first-leg deficit when his side meet Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday.

"We are still in three competitions. And we have a huge challenge ahead of us against Porto," he said. "It was a great decision to come to Bayern and to be able to coach those players."

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