Aberdeen upbeat about Bayern return

Aberdeen FC's 18-year-old winger Sone Aluko insists their UEFA Cup hopes are still alive despite the Scottish team twice surrendering the lead against FC Bayern München.

'Tie still alive'
Aluko scored Aberdeen's second goal to secure a half-time advantage against the Bundesliga leaders after Miroslav Klose had cancelled out the opener from fellow England youth international Josh Walker. Although Hamit Altıntop struck a second Bayern equaliser early in the second half, Akulo believes this Round of 32 contest is far from over. "I think the tie is still alive," he said. "If we play the same way and work just as hard, there's no reason why we can't get a result over there.

'Wonderful performance'
"That's the most important goal of my career so far," added Aluko, who is on loan from English Premier League side Birmingham City FC. "I just flicked the ball over [the defender], volleyed it and hoped for the best. I thought we played out of our skins, especially in the first half." A view seconded by Dons manager Jimmy Calderwood: "It was a wonderful performance in the first half. They upped the tempo in the second half and [Philipp] Lahm caused us problems when he came on, but I thought we deserved to be ahead."

Evocative fixture
There was an expectant air at Pittodrie as the tie revived memories of Aberdeen's quarter-final win against Bayern in their triumphant UEFA Cup Winners' Cup campaign of 1982/83. The focus for Calderwood, though, was this first-leg display: "We were disappointed with the goals we lost but [Walker and Aluko] were fantastic and the same could be said of the two young lads at the back, Zander Diamond and Andrew Considine. It's a fabulous evening for Aberdeen Football Club – it's just a shame we couldn't get the victory."

Hoeness satisfied
Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness pronounced himself happy with the result and confident for the return match next Thursday. "It was clear it would be a difficult game when Aberdeen went ahead twice, but at the end of the day we got two goals back and got a good result," he said. "We never think about losing in Munich – 1-0 will be enough and if we get that, we'll be happy." Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld added: “Aberdeen had a great start and it was an exciting game. We’re now in a really good position and have the advantage taking these two goals back with us, so I’d say we're the favourites for this tie.”