Ribery warns only battle over, war still to be won
BERLIN: Franck Ribery has issued a battle cry before the Champions League semi-final second leg at Real Madrid where Bayern Munich know they must be ruthless in front of goal to stage an unlikely comeback.
Bayern have it all to do at the Santiago Bernabeu after wasting several chances in last week’s 2-1 first-leg loss in Munich.
“The battle is lost, but the war is not over,” the Frenchman wrote on Twitter, borrowing from the famous Charles de Gaulle quote.
“We will get our chances in Madrid.”
The 35-year-old Ribery was one of the few Bayern stars to shine in the defeat at the Allianz Arena. A dreadful error from Bayern defender Rafinha let in substitute Marco Asensio to score a second-half winner, handing holders Real a significant advantage.
After Joshua Kimmich gave Bayern an early lead, Ribery twice came agonisingly close to scoring for Munich.
He stumbled at the crucial moment in a one-on-one with Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas in the first half before Marcelo equalised for Real.
Ribery wreaked havoc on the left wing and also forced Navas into an excellent second-half save.
The winger and his Bayern team-mates fly to Madrid on Monday vowing to upset the odds.
“We’ll give it everything we have,” insisted Bayern left-back David Alaba, back from a thigh injury.
Bayern are in an identical position to last year’s quarter-finals, when Real knocked them out.
After losing the first leg 2-1 in Munich, they won by the same margin over 90 minutes in Madrid only to bow out 6-3 on aggregate after losing 4-2 after extra time.
On Saturday, Ribery was among a host of players rested as a weakened Bayern team beat their incoming coach Niko Kovac’s Eintracht Frankfurt 4-1.
Sandro Wagner scored in the Bundesliga victory and pinpointed how Bayern can win in Madrid.
Bayern boss Jupp Heynckes dubbed the striker ‘a fighter’ and Wagner could get the chance to be on the end of Ribery’s crosses at the Bernabeu.
“I think Real were all at sea defending every cross, so we know what we have to do,” said Wagner, the back-up for top- scorer Robert Lewandowski.
“We all want revenge and have all vowed to give it absolutely everything in Madrid.”
RIBERY WREAKED HAVOC ON THE LEFT WING AND ALSO FORCED NAVAS INTO AN EXCELLENT SECONDHALF SAVE