Improvement but no miracle for Van Bommel
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
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Captain Mark van Bommel told uefa.com that FC Bayern München "played 100 per cent better" last night than in their 4-0 away loss to FC Barcelona but knew they had too much to do against "the best team in the world".
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FC Bayern München captain Mark van Bommel has seen FC Barcelona at close quarters this season, and declared them "the best team in the world" after the Liga leaders won their UEFA Champions League quarter-final 5-1 on aggregate.
Improved display
The Dutchman led Bayern as they sought to salvage some pride in last night's quarter-final second leg against his former club, but was left frustrated after Seydou Keita's strike cancelled out Franck Ribéry's opener for the hosts as it ended 1-1 at the Fuβball Arena München. Though he was pleased to see an improved display from his own team following their 4-0 first-leg reverse in Spain, Van Bommel conceded Bayern had been second-best.
Too much to do
"We would have loved to have won, but I think that we played 100 per cent better than last week, so it's OK," he told uefa.com. "We tried to press them in their own half. It wasn't bad what we did, but it wasn't enough. Barcelona are the best team in the world at the moment, and they played tremendously in the first half in the first leg. We weren't able to do anything about that, but to concede four goals in one half was much too much."
Treble chance
Van Bommel, Bayern's first non-German captain, had a taste of life on the other side of the equation when he was part of an all-conquering Barcelona team that won both European football's top prize and the Spanish Liga in the 2005/06 season. The 31-year-old acknowledged that Josep Guardiola's squad has the potential to surpass the feats of their predecessors as they remain on course for a UEFA Champions League, Liga and Copa del Rey treble this season.
'Won nothing yet'
"The two sides are a little bit similar, they play very good football, but [this team] haven't won anything yet," said Van Bommel, who moved to Bavaria after a season at the Camp Nou following the final victory against Arsenal FC in Paris. "We won the Champions League and the league. They are playing well, and can win three titles – and if they do that, then they'll be better than the team in 2006." Van Bommel's own attentions now switch to Bayern's Bundesliga title defence, with Jürgen Klinsmann's men three points behind leaders VfL Wolfsburg with seven games remaining. "Getting knocked out won't have an impact – the Bundesliga is a different competition," he said. "We're going to try and be champions at the end of the season."
