'Neverkusen' veteran backs Bayern to succeed

Goalkeeper Hans Jörg Butt may be on course for another trip to the UEFA Champions League final with FC Bayern München, seven years after starring in Bayer 04 Leverkusen's glorious failure in the 2001/02 showpiece.

Leverkusen parallels
The 34-year-old played his first competitive game for Bayern since he joined the German champions from SL Benfica in the summer as Jürgen Klinsmann's side won 7-1 at home against Sporting Clube de Portugal last week. That result completed a record-breaking 12-1 aggregate victory, and Butt quickly found himself being questioned about the parallels between Bayern and the Leverkusen side of 2001/02, the last German team to reach the UEFA Champions League final.

Not enough players
"This is one of the best teams I have ever played in," he replied. "We were pretty strong in 2002, but we weren't as well equipped as we are here now. Back then we had 12 or 13 top players and in the end that was the reason why we didn't win the trophy; it just wasn't enough, especially as some of our key players were injured, like Jens Nowotny. This team has more, and stronger, players."

Cruel nickname
Cruelly dubbed 'Neverkusen' as they missed out on the German title, German Cup and UEFA Champions League in that famous campaign, Leverkusen nonetheless launched a number of great careers, with Butt not the only member of the side that lost out to Real Madrid CF in Glasgow in the Bayern squad. "I played with Lucio and Zé Roberto back then and they also developed very well," said Butt. "It's important to have the club behind you, to feel the club mentality. This is all about feeling the pressure here, this positive pressure that you have on you to win every match."

Gentlemen's agreement
Butt's ability to handle pressure led to him becoming both Hamburger SV and Leverkusen's first-choice penalty taker, scoring twice from the spot in UEFA Champions League games. He admitted that when Bayern were awarded a penalty against Sporting last week that he fancied his chances, but was happy to see team-mate Miroslav Klose converting it instead. "I would have loved to have taken it, but it was important for Miro to go top in the goalscorer rankings," said Butt. "We talked about it before the match and it was clear that Miro would take it." Butt can only hope that, in the event that first-choice keeper Michael Rensing is rested again and with Klose out for six weeks with an ankle injury, he might yet score his third UEFA Champions League goal this season.