Football
Nick Ames, ESPN.com writer 8y

Bayern have learned from Champions League defeats - Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola believes his Bayern Munich team can learn from previous semifinal exits as they look to make it third-time lucky in the Champions League under the outgoing coach.

Bayern's last-four ties under Guardiola have both ended in comprehensive defeats, a 5-0 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid in 2014 followed by a 5-3 reverse to Barcelona last year, an injury-hit side having lost 3-0 in the first leg.

Guardiola's reign at Bayern will feel somewhat incomplete if he cannot land Europe's biggest club trophy and he says those setbacks can assist them in tomorrow's second leg against Atletico Madrid.

"A semifinal is very important, but it was also very important against Real Madrid and Barcelona," he said in his prematch news conference.

"We didn't make it back then. Real played very well, with Bale, Benzema, Di Maria and Ronaldo; against Barcelona we had 14 players available and weren't ready, they were much better at the time. But this is a new year and a new situation for us -- we have our chance now and we will try our best."

Those defeats have taught Bayern some valuable lessons, according to Guardiola -- who also explained how his approach differed to those of some of his predecessors at the Bavarian club.

"Who knows, maybe tomorrow Saul, Koke or Torres have a counterattack and we concede a goal," he said. "But we have learned from back then and we have shown that we have learned. In my time here we have shown that we can defend very well and then switch to attack. [Ottmar] Hitzfeld and [Giovanni] Trapattoni have shown they can have 11 men back defending but my way is totally different. I have different ideas of how to play.

"If you look at the games with Juventus [when Bayern won 6-4 on aggregate in the round of 16] and Real, we have learned a lot. We have to go in one direction and go for attack."

Guardiola reasserted that his team will go against a notoriously tough, aggressive Atletico side, but said he expects opportunities to be difficult to come by as Bayern look to overturn a 1-0 deficit.

"They defend very well," he said. "They have experienced players, are compact at the back and don't leave any gaps. It's complicated playing against teams like that but we will try and fight our way through.

"We probably won't get that many chances but we'll go for it. It will be hard, they're very good at closing down space and it's difficult to play down the wings against them. They will try and be dangerous on the counter but we will attack with the whole team."

Guardiola gave little away when asked whether Thomas Muller, who began on the bench last week as Bayern sought to gain a foothold in midfield, would return to the starting XI with the home side's need for goals rather more pressing.

"I don't know, do you want to look at our lineup half an hour before the game?" he said. "I think it's a mistake to think of how many goals we need to score. We need to defend well, and interpret every situation in the game as well as we can. Of course we have to score, but that's the way we play -- we have to control the game.

"I don't think we lost in Madrid because Thomas was not there. And tomorrow we'll win or lose whether he is there or not. We're ready, we're prepared and that's the situation."

Whatever the outcome on Wednesday, this will be Guardiola's last Champions League game in charge at the Allianz Arena and he reflected upon what he believes has been a successful period personally and for the club.

"I think the statistics are really good for us," he said. "Culturally I maybe wanted to improve a few things in the team but if you look back I think everything we have achieved is really good. I've tried to implement a different playing style here and it was a hard fight at times, but the way I've been treated here is fantastic. It will help me in my future as a head coach and I think I've really improved here with this team.

"Now I'm trying to win the Champions League. It's very difficult to get through the semifinals and win it. Teams really have to give a lot in this competition."

Guardiola will be able to call on Franck Ribery, who came through a training session after suffering a minor back injury.

"Whether he'll play from the start or in the second half I don't know yet, but he is a very important player," he said.

The same is true of key centre-back Jerome Boateng, who returned from a three-month absence in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach.

"He's only had three days' recovery so we'll see tomorrow, speak to him and speak to other players," said Guardiola of his possible involvement.

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