Mourinho:Expects ‘a great game of football’

Real Madrid are in Munich for the Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday – but only for 30 hours and 40 minutes. Keen to spend as little time as necessary on the away trip, the party from Spain’s most successful club didn’t arrive at Munich airport until 5.30 pm on Monday, with the return flight booked for quarter past midnight on Tuesday, as early as possible after the final whistle. That reeks of confidence à la José Mourinho, confidence à la Real Madrid. Nevertheless, the Special One is respectful too: “FC Bayern is an institution. They have a good coach, and players for the special moments,” said Mourinho, whose focus is on a double triumph comprising the Champions League and the Spanish title. With five games to go in La Liga, leaders Real are four points clear of champions Barcelona. However, sandwiched between the European double header against FCB, the men from the Spanish capital must visit Barcelona for El Clásico on Saturday evening. “Our fate in the league and the Champions League is in our own hands. We have nothing to lose and everything to win. That’s what we’re trying to do, and that’ll be our approach, right to the end of the season,” Mourinho declared at Monday evening’s obligatory pre-match press conference, staged at the Allianz Arena. The coach, twice a Champions League winner in the past with Porto and Inter Milan, described Bayern as “huge“ and “dangerous” opponents and said he was expecting a “great game of football”. The Spanish league leaders are brimming with confidence ahead of the clash in the Bavarian capital, as both Mourinho and World Cup winner Sergio Ramos reported. “We face one of the great teams. But our stated goal is to reach the final, preferably starting with a win in the first leg,” Real defender Ramos stated. Mourinho unimpressed by stats Real’s record against Bayern in Europe’s elite club competition is poor, with only six wins in 18 matches, and none in their nine visits to Munich, which have ended in defeat on eight occasions, but the men from Madrid still believe fully in themselves. Mourinho laughed off the idea of FCB as Real’s bogey team. “I’m not interested in statistics. Those are meaningless, historical facts. It’s a whole new game on Tuesday, and statistics count for nothing. We’ll have to see what we can do.“ For all that, the Spaniards possess great respect for La Bestia Negra, as FCB are widely known in Spain due to their record of success against Real. “I still know them well from the 2010 final. Bayern have a great team, one of the best in the world. But we’re prepared,” said Mourinho, “they’re playing phenomenal football and are rightly through to the semi-finals. They could make the final.“ Details could be decisive Sergio Ramos praised FCB both as a team (“a great unit.“),and for the individual class of Arjen Robben, Franck Ribéry and striker Mario Gomez: “All these players have the ability to make the difference. We’ll have to be 100 percent focused.“ Echoing a comment made by Philipp Lahm, Ramos emphasised that “little details“ could decide the match: “We’re not thinking about Barca, but only about Bayern. They’re our next opponents.“ Mourinho declined to drop any hints as to his line-up on Monday evening. The charismatic coach has brought his entire 24-strong squad to Munich. “I know who’ll play, who’ll sit on the bench and who’ll watch from the stands. I’ve taken my decisions,” he said, offering at least a glimpse of his overall tactical plan: “Real Madrid always play to win and lay on a spectacle. We want to turn the good things we do into trophies.“