Bayern targets Champions League 16 after Fiorentina draw
Midfielder Tim Borowski said Bayern Munich deserved the point from their 1-1 draw at Fiorentina as the German giants took a step closer to the Champions League's last 16.
A 40,000 full house at Florence's Stadio Artemio Franchi on Wednesday saw Adrian Mutu volley the Italians into an early lead, but Bayern raised the pace in the second half and Borowski slotted the equaliser on 78 minutes. Bayern are now level at the top of Group F with Lyon and on course for the first knock-out round.
"We've deserved the point, and we should probably even have won it at the end," said Borowski, who is also a Germany international. "We never really got going in the first half, especially with our tackling.Instead of imposing ourselves on the game, we let Fiorentina play. That was our biggest failing. In the second half we overran them, we were almost different class."
However, the Munich camp felt the display as a whole was below par and Bayern's Dutch captain Mark van Bommel said his side need to improve their performances.
"We didn't play well in the first half, we showed too much respect and deserved to be a goal behind," said the Dutchman. "After we equalised, we could have gone on and won, but we can't be satisfied with the way we've played."
But coach Jürgen Klinsmann was relatively happy with the performance.
"It wasn't bad, even in the first half," he said "We expected Fiorentina to put us under a lot of pressure. Most of the time, we succeeded in neutralising them, with the exception of their goal. We largely controlled the game and let the ball do the work, but we lacked the decisive edge when it mattered. At half time, we spoke about needing to find another gear and summoning up the desire to go out and score the goal we wanted.
In the second half, you sensed it was only a matter of time before we forced one over the line," Klinsmann added.
With two games left, against Steaua Bucharest on November 25 at Munich's Allianz Arena and Lyon away at the Stade de Gerland on December 12, Bayern could not afford to come away from Florence without a point.
"We wanted to avoid defeat, so 1-1 is just fine," said Germany striker Miroslav Klose. "We didn't have enough courage in the first half. We allowed ourselves to be pushed deep and we lost the loose balls. It was better in the second half. We played higher up the field and won most of our tackles. That made it a lot easier for us," he added.
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A 40,000 full house at Florence's Stadio Artemio Franchi on Wednesday saw Adrian Mutu volley the Italians into an early lead, but Bayern raised the pace in the second half and Borowski slotted the equaliser on 78 minutes. Bayern are now level at the top of Group F with Lyon and on course for the first knock-out round.
"We've deserved the point, and we should probably even have won it at the end," said Borowski, who is also a Germany international. "We never really got going in the first half, especially with our tackling.Instead of imposing ourselves on the game, we let Fiorentina play. That was our biggest failing. In the second half we overran them, we were almost different class."
However, the Munich camp felt the display as a whole was below par and Bayern's Dutch captain Mark van Bommel said his side need to improve their performances.
"We didn't play well in the first half, we showed too much respect and deserved to be a goal behind," said the Dutchman. "After we equalised, we could have gone on and won, but we can't be satisfied with the way we've played."
But coach Jürgen Klinsmann was relatively happy with the performance.
"It wasn't bad, even in the first half," he said "We expected Fiorentina to put us under a lot of pressure. Most of the time, we succeeded in neutralising them, with the exception of their goal. We largely controlled the game and let the ball do the work, but we lacked the decisive edge when it mattered. At half time, we spoke about needing to find another gear and summoning up the desire to go out and score the goal we wanted.
In the second half, you sensed it was only a matter of time before we forced one over the line," Klinsmann added.
With two games left, against Steaua Bucharest on November 25 at Munich's Allianz Arena and Lyon away at the Stade de Gerland on December 12, Bayern could not afford to come away from Florence without a point.
"We wanted to avoid defeat, so 1-1 is just fine," said Germany striker Miroslav Klose. "We didn't have enough courage in the first half. We allowed ourselves to be pushed deep and we lost the loose balls. It was better in the second half. We played higher up the field and won most of our tackles. That made it a lot easier for us," he added.
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