Pep Guardiola “admires Roma’s courage” and doesn’t expect another 7-1 for Bayern Munich tomorrow.
The teams clash in the Champions League on Wednesday at 19.45 GMT at the Allianz Arena, following on from a shock 7-1 result in Rome.
Pep Guardiola “admires Roma’s courage” and doesn’t expect another 7-1 for Bayern Munich tomorrow.
The teams clash in the Champions League on Wednesday at 19.45 GMT at the Allianz Arena, following on from a shock 7-1 result in Rome.
“We start tomorrow from 0-0,” assured Guardiola in his Press conference. “It is a football match, we experienced this victory and the same situation is not there waiting for us. It is a new game, a great chance for us to win the group in front of our fans.
“Roma will play to win in Munich, we’ll play our game too. We focus on our own style, even though we will also analyse Roma’s strong and weak points.
“Mentality is fundamental and that is why we absolutely must acknowledge we are starting this game at 0-0. They have a strong team with Keita, De Rossi, Totti, Gervinho, Manolas and Nainggolan. The Roma players are hungry and want to give their best out of respect for their fans. It’s a question of love and of honour, that is why it’ll be difficult for us.
“I told my lads that Roma have pace and a lot of quality, while their centre-backs are very strong too. If Pjanic is playing then that’s one thing, if it’s Florenzi then the whole situation changes. We have to be prepared for every eventuality, but we’ll only know once the line-ups are announced.”
Guardiola was asked whether Roma were arrogant in the first leg to think they could take Bayern Munich on in an open game.
“What’s wrong with being arrogant? I don’t understand. I love people who want to win, who go out there and try. Don’t forget after the first goal, Roma had three great scoring opportunities, above all with Gervinho.
“I think they are courageous and that is more than positive, which people don’t seem to mention. Perhaps if they had tried to sit back and defend from the start they would not have lost 7-1, but they’d have had no chance of victory either.
“Roma lost nothing but three points in that game. They were courageous and I admire that, I follow that attitude, as we too go for the win no matter who we are facing. We’ve lost games before too, that’s part of the sport. You have to take risks and I admire Roma for that.”