Bayern lament missed opportunities

FC Bayern München's players rued their failure to find a second goal after they were pegged back to 1-1 in Thursday's UEFA Cup semi-final first leg against FC Zenit St. Petersburg.

Lost opportunities
The home side missed several chances to build a more emphatic lead before Lucio's second-half own goal cancelled out Franck Ribéry's opener. Ribéry conceded that his team had been punished for their profligacy but insisted that the tie could still be won in Russia next Thursday.

Still confident
"We had enough opportunities to have scored two or three goals, but we were unable to get the second and two-nil would have been a good result for us," said the French international, who had spent the evening tormenting Zenit's right flank. "We could see that Zenit are a quality side with quality players, especially in midfield." Even so, the 25-year-old stressed, Bayern "will go there with confidence". "There is still everything to play for and we aren't afraid of any team, even on their ground," he added.

'Zenit fresher'
For Bayern captain Oliver Kahn, the first-half performance had merited more than the Ribéry strike. "We played really well, especially in that opening period," said the goalkeeper. "But it has been a long hard season and maybe they are a bit fresher than us – maybe that's why we didn't get the second goal. We needed too many invitations to score."

Trapped nerve
However, Kahn, who had to be replaced by Michael Rensing in the 67th minute after trapping a nerve in his back, echoed his team-mate's optimism about the second leg. "Even though they looked a really strong side, they are possibly better suited to playing away from home," he explained. "So 1-1 is not necessarily a bad result and next week is going to be like a final just to play in the final." Kahn was joined among Bayern's walking wounded by Miroslav Klose, who lasted the 90 minutes despite breaking his nose.