Bayern warned of Real danger by former coach

Heynckes, now in charge of Portuguese giants Benfica, said, “I am warning Bayern fans against high expectations. You can never say never in football but I can’t see them beating Real 4-2 in Madrid again.”

The architect of Real’s last European Cup win two yearsago — a 1-0 defeat of Italy’s Juventus in Amsterdam — believes a lot has changed since those matches.

Notably Bayern, yet to win the ultimate European prize since they won the trophy three times in a row in the 1970s, have parted company with their talismanic libero Lothar Matthaus, who is now playing with the Metro Stars in New York.

Secondly, Real have kick-started their season with the 3-2 victory in England that eliminated holders Manchester United in the quarter-finals — a performance described by Real coach Vicente del Bosque as the best of his career.

That has set up what could be an all-Spanish final in Paris in May, possibly against Real’s arch-rivals Barcelona or another Primera Liga side Valencia.

“To the last man, Real have gained a lot of self-confidence from the away match with Manchester, fans and players are united again after this great victory,” explained Heynckes, sacked days after the 1998 final because the club had finished eighth in the Primera Liga.

It is a sign of how hot the managerial seat is at Real that since Heynckes was shown the door less than two years ago, Jose Antonio Camacho, Guus Hiddink and John Toshack have come and gone with Vicente Del Bosque now the head coach.

Bayern, meanwhile, are desperate to atone for their defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory in last season’s final, also on Spanish soil in Barcelona against Manchester United.

In that match, Bayern led deep into injury time but before the fat lady had managed to clear her throat, stoppage time strikes from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer turned the match on its head.

Like Heynckes, Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld knows what it takes to win Europe’s top club prize, having led Borussia Dortmund to one of the most unexpected victories in the tournament’s history in 1997.

That 3-1 trouncing of Juventus — ironically at Munich — remains his finest hour and Hitzfeld could see positives and negatives in his current team’s two sparkling shows against Real earlier in the tournament.

Any trepidation that Bayern might feel ahead of the crunch encounter with the Spanish side in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium will have been alleviated with the news of injury problems for the hosts.

Real’s quest for an eighth European club title has been hit by knocks to key players. Experienced skipper Fernando Hierro, inspirational in the 1998 final win, will miss the showdown with striker Fernando Morientes and Brazilian mid-fielder Savio looking likely to join Hierro on the sidelines.

The absence of Morientes means that Real’s French striker Nicolas Anelka is likely to start alongside Raul while Bosnian mid-fielder Elvir Balic is the probable deputy for Savio.

The only consolation for Real is that Bayern too will also be unable to field a full strength line-up with skipper Stefan Effenberg and Alexander Zickler ruled out.

The key to the Old Trafford win was a magnificent mid-field performance by Fernando Redondo — United boss Sir Alex Ferguson memorably said the Argentinian must have had a magnet in his pants as the ball kept following him around the pitch.

But it was also a turning point for Real’s English mid-fielder Steve McManaman who has now strung together some impressive performances in the white shirt.

Anelka too produced an fine display against Espanyol at the weekend and has vowed to stay at the club despite his much-documented problems in Spain this year.

But the Frenchman, in an uncharacteristically upbeat interview, nonetheless reiterated the team were not playing to his preferred style.

Another youngster at Madrid is goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who is only 18 — three years younger than Anelka. But Casillas, outstanding in the United game, gave a commendable lesson in maturity to the former Paris St Germain and Arsenal forward when he said: “There’s not a lot of pressure because I have been at Real since I was young and I have always played football here. Starting off isn’t easy but you generally amass more and more confidence. Now I’m taking it in my stride.”

Casillas also revealed he worked closely with Real’s other goalkeepers — German Bodo Illgner and Argentinian Albano Bizarri — despite the fact that all three are rivals for the first team.

He paid special tribute to Illgner, a German World Cup-winner in 1990, for his help. That would be another useful lesson for Anelka, who has constantly moaned that Real strikers Raul and Morientes — who like Casillas have come through the club’s youth scheme and wear the white shirt with pride — are cramping his style.

Three players on each side will be anxious to avoid a caution that would rule them out of the second leg match in Munich. Real trio Julio Cesar, Ivan Karanka and Michel Salgado arejust one yellow card away from suspension as are Bayern’s Markus Babbel, Jens Jeremies and Michael Tarnat.