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Riled Bayern ready to prove critics wrong
The Straits Times
|March 05, 2025
Bayern Munich are irritated by suggestions that they are the outsiders in their high-stakes Champions League last-16, first-leg clash against Bayer Leverkusen.
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BERLIN -
Vincent Kompany's men host Xabi Alonso's Bundesliga champions in Munich on March 5, and Bayern are almost always the favourites when taking on other German teams, regardless of venue or competition.
But pundits and bookmakers alike have tipped Leverkusen to make it through to the quarter-finals, raising the ire of the Bavarian side, particularly with Munich hosting the 2025 final.
Since appearing in back-to-back finals in 2012 and 2013, Bayern have only once failed to make it past the last-16 stage - when they lost to Jurgen Klopp's eventual champions Liverpool in 2019.
Bayern legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who alongside Uli Hoeness grew the club into European powerhouses, said his team felt slighted and would react.
"Everyone has declared Bayer Leverkusen the favourites. I know our team - and it pisses them off," he said.
This story is from the March 05, 2025 edition of The Straits Times.
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