Bayern Munich handily beat Hannover 96 3-0 this weekend exactly how they wanted to; players were rested, rotations were made, and they escaped the HDI Arena without any injuries. All eyes are now fixed on Wednesday’s massive clash in the Champions League semi-finals against Real Madrid.
Looking ahead to the encounter, both Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge revisited last year’s quarter-finals between the two sides, and in particular, the poor refereeing decisions that were made during the second leg in Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals in extra time from an offside position after Arturo Vidal had been sent off in the 83rd minute (via a second yellow card) for what appeared to be a completely clean tackle on Marco Asensio.
On Saturday (via Süddeutsche Zeitung), Hoeness vented his frustration on last year’s poor officiating decisions as Rummenigge added feeling “crappy” after being eliminated in the fashion they were:
Normally, I’m not the one to complain about referees, but that guy [Viktor Kassai] not only made a fundamental mistake, but made three or four. And that was simply beyond embarrassing.
Looking forward to the tie itself, Thomas Müller admitted that Bayern have to play on the front foot if they want to have a chance at exposing Madrid’s weaknesses:
We have to play forward, try to score goals, exploit the weaknesses that Real has. Even if they have progressed [to the semi-finals]: they are vulnerable.
Additionally, Muller said (via tz) that Bayern are just focused on playing their brand of football, regardless of the officiating circumstances for both legs:
They don't make mistakes on purpose. It's just that particularly in Madrid, small, decisive borderline calls were present—but FIFA will approach the whole thing with that in mind and try to ensure fair conditions. And we'll concentrate on playing soccer.