alexander frei looked back to his days as a borussia dortmund player as his fc basel 1893 side went in search of three points at fc bayern münchen, noting: "we always lost here."
fc basel 1893 striker alexander frei will try to finally create some happy memories of the fußball arena münchen when he heads to fc bayern münchen's home stadium for a fourth time.
the swiss champions need three points in munich to have any hope of reaching the uefa champions league knockout phase, yet the 31-year-old frei could take little comfort from his time in the bundesliga with borussia dortmund as he looked forward to the group e game. "we always lost here," he said, recalling 2-0, 3-1 and 5-0 defeats in his three seasons in germany from 2006-09.
however, with louis van gaal's men labouring in the league but already assured of a place in the last 16, frei knows the moment may have come to put his "quite bad memories" of the stadium behind him. indeed, he feels that playing bayern away could inspire his side. "playing here with basel against bayern, that's a bonus, especially for our younger players," said frei.
thorsten fink's team travel more in hope than expectation, though; even if they end bayern's run of seven straight uefa champions league home wins, they will only go through if as roma lose at cfr 1907 cluj, who have not picked up a point since matchday 1 and have been without a head coach since sorin cârţu was dismissed following their 1-0 loss at basel on matchday 5.
a slender opportunity, however, is still an opportunity. "we believe we have a chance to win here, especially us forwards. marco streller and i have a lot of confidence at the moment," said the forward. "we won't get many chances, so we have to be very alert and take the ones we get. we are in good shape; we did well in our last few games and there is no pressure on us. that could be to our advantage."
bayern's bastian schweinsteiger, meanwhile, said the fact that nothing was riding on this match did not mean his side would lack motivation. the bavarians are smarting from a 2-0 weekend reverse at fc schalke 04 which left them 17 points adrift of bundesliga leaders dortmund and further dented any realistic prospects of them defending their title.
"it may not look like it but the basel game is very important to us," said the midfielder, who missed bayern's 3-2 matchday 5 defeat by roma through suspension. "a win would give us confidence for the bundesliga. we key players must take responsibility. we have to lead the team. the coach will give us some hints, but it is down to us to give a good performance on the pitch."
şampiyonlar ligi e grubu'nun lideri bayern munich sahasında basel'i mağlup etmeyi başardı: 3-0
alienz arena'da oynanan maçta bayern münih, maçın 35. dakikasında frank ribery'nin ayağından kazandığı gol ile öne geçti. basel beraberlik golü için rakip kaleye yüklenirken kalesinde 2. golü gördü. ilk golden 3 dakika sonra anatoliy tymoshchuk takımı adına skoru 2-0'a taşıyan golü attı ve maçın ilk yarısı bu skorla tamamlandı.
maçın ikinci yarısının hemen başında tekrar sahneye çıkan ribery, 50. dakikada kendisinin 2, takımının 3. golünü kaydetti. üçüncü golün ardında bayern'in baskısı başka gol getirmeyince maç 3-0'lık skor ile sonuçlandı ve bayern münih grubunu 15 puan ile lider olarak tamamladı.
bayern münih'te milli oyucumuz halil altıntop, maçın 68. dakikasında toni kroos'un yerine dahil oldu.
bu sonucun ardından bayern münih 15 puanla grubu lider olarak tamamladı. basel ise grubu 3. sırada tamamlayarak yoluna uefa avrupa ligi'nde devam edecek.
franck ribéry scored twice – his first goals since august – as group e winners bayern rounded off the group stage on a high.
franck ribéry found the net twice as fc bayern münchen capped an impressive uefa champions league group e campaign with a 3-0 defeat of fc basel 1893.
basel needed to win in munich and for as roma to lose at cfr 1907 cluj in order to progress, while bayern had already clinched top spot in the section. there was no let-up from last season's runners-up, however, with two goals in three minutes providing the platform for their fifth win of the campaign. ribéry's 35th-minute opener was quickly bolstered by anatoliy tymoshchuk and the france winger added a second five minutes after the break to leave basel clinging to the consolation of a uefa europa league berth.
with their need greater, basel started with an enterprise almost as eye-catching as their fluorescent shirts. alexander frei drove fiercely across goal following a deft marco streller chest-down and xherdan shaqiri surged beyond the back four. thomas kraft, making his second successive start in the competition, parried superbly.
the early storm weathered, bayern countered. philipp lahm and thomas müller both flashed centres across the face of goal before a toni kroos corner somehow evaded three bayern players stationed within touching distance of franco costanzo's goal.
basel remained menacing on the counterattack, and kraft denied frei and streller as they bore down on goal before bayern wrested the game away from the visitors. diego contento robbed cabral before feeding ribéry to fire in the opener, and a mario gomez flick on a kroos corner sufficed for tymoshchuk to steer in the second from close range.
stunned by the double burst, basel floundered. bastian schweinsteiger may have added a third before the break had a deflection not diverted his measured effort into the grasp of a relieved costanzo. there was no escape shortly after the break, though, as thomas müller's fleet of foot and quick thinking gave ribéry ample time to side-foot beyond costanzo.
with his defence offering token resistance costanzo was given little respite, and only a brilliant reflex stop at point-blank range denied schweinsteiger, who could scarcely believe his luck. substitute federico almerares wasted an excellent opportunity to reduce basel's deficit, but only costanzo's alertness prevented mark van bommel and gomez compounding the away side's troubles. for bayern, it was a seventh successive home win in european competition.
1. fc bayern münchen...6...5...0...1...16...6...10...15 2. as roma...6...3...1...2...10...11...-1...10 3. fc basel 1893...6...2...0...4...8...11...-3...6 4. cfr 1907 cluj...6...1...1...4...6...12...-6...4
yardımcı hakemler: stefan wittberg (swe), fredrik nilsson (swe)
4. hakem: stefan johannesson (swe)
çizgi hakemleri: martin ingvarsson (swe), magnus ahlsèn (swe)
bayern: thomas kraft (gk), breno, franck ribéry, mark van bommel (c), philipp lahm, thomas müller, diego contento, bastian schweinsteiger, mario gomez, toni kroos (dk. 68 hamit altıntop), anatoliy tymoshchuk
yedekler: jörg butt (gk), edson braafheid, daniel van buyten, martín demichelis, andreas ottl, david alaba
tknik direktör: louis van gaal (ned)
basel: franco costanzo (gk) (c), marco streller (dk. 46 granit xhaka), gilles yapi, alexander frei, valentin stocker, xherdan shaqiri (dk. 76 fwayo tembo), david abraham, behrang safari, samuel inkoom, cabral (dk. 55 federico almerares), beg ferati
yedekler: yann sommer (gk), çağdaş atan, pascal schürpf, reto zanni
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