<span class="titolo">UEFA Cup Group F: Wonderkid Rescues Bayern</span></p> <span class="sommario">Bayern Munich were minutes away from their first defeat of the season in Belgrade at the hands of Crvena Zvezda, before Miroslav Klose and new wonderkid on the block Toni Kroos produced an unlikely win. Bolton Wanderers were held at the Reebok by Sporting Braga.</span></p> Red Star Belgrade 2-3 Bayern Munich The pitch was far from ideal and Bayern clearly had trouble adapting to it in the opening minutes. In an open first quarter, it was the home side that took the lead after 16 minutes much to the home fans delight. Following a throw, Red Star switched play to the left where Koroman was bearing down on Lahm. After twisting the full back inside out, the Serbian international fired past Rensing to shock Bayern. However, four minutes later and the visitors were back on terms. Lucio charged forward unleashing a shot which keeper Randjelovic could only parry out to the incoming Klose. The Bundesliga leading scorer made no mistake beating the defender to poke the equaliser home. Six minutes before the break and the home side had a near identical chance to the one that gave them the lead. Koroman robbed Lahm and fired at goal, only for his shot to go just wide. As the game entered the final 15 minutes the roof was raised on the Marakanar as Milijas fired the home side into the lead. A rather hopeful shot from distance seemed to swerve on its way down and beat a possibly unsighted Rensing to hand the home side the lead. Just when it looked like Bayern were going to suffer their first defeat of the season and a repeat of 1991, they managed to rescue the situation. Following a freekick whipped in by substitute Toni Kroos, Miroslav Klose found himself unmarked to nod home the equaliser. To make matters worse, substitue Bajalica was sent off in the 92nd minute for his second yellow card in as many minutes. If Bayern fans were celebrating the rescuing of a point, more was to come. Into stoppage time and the visitors were awarded another free kick which was taken by the impressive youngster Kroos. He whipped in a vicious ball that deceived everyone in the six yard box and curled into to the net for an unlikely winner. Red Star Belgrade: Randjelovic, Andjelkovic, Gueye, Basta (Bajalica), Milijas, Tutoric, Koroman, Joao Lukas, Molina (Bogdanovic), Castillo, Barcos (Burzanovic) Bayern Munich: Rensing, Lahm, Jansen, Lell, Lucio, van Bommel (Kroos), Zé Roberto, Altintop (Schlaudraff), Schweinsteiger, Podolski, Klose</p> </p>
<span class="titolo">Hitzfeld: Show Of Strength Overcomes Pitch</span></p> <span class="sommario">Bayern trainer Ottmar Hitzfeld felt the poor pitch inside the Marakanar stopped his side performing, but was delighted to come away with a hard fought victory.</span></p> Bayern twice went behind to Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade but with two goals from Klose and an injury time winner from substitute Toni Kroos, Bayern came out on top.</p> “You saw that we had huge problems with the pitch. We considered yesterday whether we should file an objection” he explained.</p> “Today was a superb show of strength; it was not possible to play good football. I would have been happy with a point towards the end” he added.</p> Two-goal hero Miroslav Klose also bemoaned the quality of the surface saying, “Compliments to the team, for how they came back. We were pushed to our limits when you look at the conditions.</p> “The pitch wasn’t perfect and takes its toll on your knees. But we didn’t stop believing in ourselves.”</p> Match-winner Toni Kroos echoed the sentiments of his trainer and Klose.</p> “It was enormously important that we won and started the group with three points. It was difficult, the pitch was a catastrophe but we made the best out of it and triumphed.</p> “We fought hard and deservedly won at the end.”</p> </p>
<span class="fcc003318px">Battling Bayern seal famous last-gasp victory</span></p> Miroslav Klose twice equalised before sub Toni Kroos’ dramatic stoppage time winner saw never-say-die Bayern claim all three points in a scrappy but hard-fought UEFA Cup group opener in Belgrade on Thursday. A 38,000 crowd at the venerable stadium known locally as the Marakana saw Ognjen Koroman master the atrocious playing surface for long enough to fire the home side into a 16th minute lead against the early run of play, but Klose continued his prolific scoring run with the equaliser just four minutes later. Super sub Kroos Lucio’s massive presence at centre-back appeared to have kept the Serbs at bay after the interval, only for Nenad Milijas to net with a speculative long-range effort a quarter of an hour from time. But the Bundesliga leaders were not finished yet and Klose levelled for the second time, scoring his 11th goal of the season in his first European appearance for Munich from sub Kroos’ 85th minute free-kick. With the Serbs down to ten men after Milos Bajalica collected a second yellow card, Bayern’s gifted youngster Kroos threw over the set piece deep into stoppage time which evaded friend and foe alike and sent Bayern to the top of Group F after rivals Bolton and Braga played out a 1-1 draw. Three changes With Luca Toni, Martin Demichelis (both flu) and Franck Ribery (strain) ruled out on Wednesday morning, Bayern’s starting line-up featured Lukas Podolski alongside Klose up front and Bastian Schweinsteiger wide on the left, with fit-again Philipp Lahm returning from an eight-week lay-off to fill the right-back role, Christian Lell moving inside to partner captain Lucio at centre-half. The attendance was well below capacity, but the crowd still created an intimidating atmosphere at the Crvena Zvezda stadium in the Serbian capital, although the hostility from the stands was less influential than the shocking state of the pitch as the players struggled for control and accuracy in an untidy first half. Sides trade early goals Red Star interim coach Milorad Kosanovic fielded a youthful side with an average age of just 23, featuring an exotic front two of Ecuador star Segundo Castillo and Argentine newcomer Hernan Barcos, but it was Bayern who made the early running as Hamit Altintop twice failed to connect from promising positions. But the home side had a shock in store for the Bavarians when former Portsmouth midfielder Koroman collected a crossfield pass and turned Lahm with a neat flick before unleashing a left-foot drive across Michael Rensing and inside the far post. Munich kept their collective cool and were level just four minutes later after Lucio strode forward purposefully and fired at goal from long range. Deceived by the awkward bounce, keeper Ivan Randjelovic spilled what should have been a routine take and Klose mopped up in characteristic fashion. Red Star fight back The action cooled for a spell now, but although Rensing was forced to clear with a fist on 29 minutes and then carefully follow the flight of Milijas’ deflected free-kick, Munich had the better of the chances. However, Klose saw a clean strike taken by Randjelovic, before the striker’s uncontrolled header drifted wide following a good thrust down the left from Podolski. Koroman drove across the face of Rensing’s goal in an eerie re-run of his earlier scoring effort as Red Star rallied with half-time approaching, and the Serbs maintained the initiative through to the hour mark, although their attacking efforts frequently foundered on the towering rock of Lucio at the heart of the Bayern defence. Altintop ushered in a better period for the visitors with a shot narrowly over the bar on 63 minutes, before Lucio’s thunderous free-kick caused pandemonium in the Red Star box, although Ze Roberto was penalised for using a hand. Drama at the death Bayern certainly appeared to have weathered the storm before Milijas took aim after 74 minutes, but the looping effort from fully 30 yards took an evil bounce just in front of Rensing and crept into the corner of the net. Jan Schlaudraff had just replaced Altintop, and Hitzfeld now sent on Kroos for Van Bommel in a final throw of the dice. The young prodigy duly responded with the wickedly curling free-kick which Klose forced over the line off his shoulder, but former Rostock youth Kroos had one more ace up his sleeve as his free-kick with practically the last kick of the match somehow found a way through a forest of legs to seal the dramatic late victory, sparking gleeful celebrations on the visiting bench and among the 650 diehards who had made the long trip from Bavaria. Live match report for fcbayern.de by Chris Hamley Red Star Belgrade-Bayern Munich 2-3 (H-T: 1-1)</p> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="height: 15px;"></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="f00000012px"><nobr>Red Star Belgrade:</nobr></td> <td class="abstand_15"></td> <td class="f00000012px">Randjelovic - Basta (Bajalica 46), Tutoric, Andjelkovic, Gueye - Castillo, Lukas - Uribe (Bogdanovic 90+1), Milijas, Koroman - Barcos (Burzanovic 69)</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="height: 15px;"></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="f00000012px"><nobr>Bayern Munich:</nobr></td> <td class="abstand_15"></td> <td class="f00000012px">Rensing - Lahm, Lucio, Lell, Jansen - van Bommel (Kroos 80), Zé Roberto - Altintop (Schlaudraff 71), Schweinsteiger - Klose, Podolski</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="height: 15px;"></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="f00000012px"><nobr> Substitutes: </nobr></td> <td class="abstand_15"></td> <td class="f00000012px">Dreher, Hummels, Sosa</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="height: 15px;"></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="f00000012px"><nobr> Referee: </nobr></td> <td class="abstand_15"></td> <td class="f00000012px">Matteo Simone Trefoloni (Italien)</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="height: 15px;"></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="f00000012px"><nobr> Spectators: </nobr></td> <td class="abstand_15"></td> <td class="f00000012px">38,000</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="height: 15px;"></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="f00000012px"><nobr> Goals: </nobr></td> <td class="abstand_15"></td> <td class="f00000012px">1-0 Koroman (16), 1-1 Klose (20), 2-1 Milijas (74), 2-2 (85), 2-3 Kroos (90+2)</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="height: 15px;"></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="f00000012px"><nobr> Yellow Cards: </nobr></td> <td class="abstand_15"></td> <td class="f00000012px">Castillo, Milijas, Molina / Schweinsteiger, Lahm</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="height: 15px;"></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="f00000012px"><nobr> Yellow/Red Cards: </nobr></td> <td class="abstand_15"></td> <td class="f00000012px">Bajalica (90+1, second bookable offence)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </p> </p>
Reaction to Red Star Belgrade v Bayern: Uli Hoeneß: “It was a real fight out there tonight, especially on the unbelievably difficult pitch. Even the referee said he had trouble staying on his feet, so it was very tough and definitely a lottery. It was good to see the team coming from behind twice, but obviously it was a little bit lucky at the end. We’d have been happy enough with a draw, but now we’re obviously delighted. We’ve put ourselves in a great position. We need to win our home games, and then we’re home and dry.“ Ottmar Hitzfeld: “You could see we were having huge problems with the turf. We did consider lodging an appeal after we trained on the pitch yesterday. I’m just pleased we’ve basically come out of it in good shape. Today was all about desire. It wasn’t a day for the pretty stuff, all that mattered was battling away. By the end, I’d have been happy enough with a point.“ Miroslav Klose: “I want to praise the team for the way we kept coming back at them. We had to go to the limit, especially when you consider the conditions here. The turf wasn’t exactly perfect, and you feel it in your legs. We need to keep believing in ourselves.“ Toni Kroos: “It was vital to start the group with a win. It was hard work, the pitch was a catastrophe, but I think we made the best of the situation and coped well. We fought hard and put up stiff resistance, and I think we deserved to win at the end.“</p>
It really is Art_Gunner4life. They should have had a rule where if a team improves this much, they in. lol</p> As for this game, I said it in another thread, getting a W in Belgrade is harder that in looks. The fans go nuts there, with the fireworks and crap like that. haha</p> Good win for Bayern.</p>
Yeah watched that. I don't think they deserved to win, but then again they did after all the upsets they had last season.</p>
