Thomas Muller insists confidence among the Bayern Munich squad is high as they prepare to face Porto in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The Bavarians will square off against the Portuguese giants in the first leg of their last-eight tie at the Estadio do Dragao on Wednesday night and will be looking to take a lead back to the Allianz Arena for the return match.
The German giants find themselves in a similar situation to last season, when they were streets ahead in the Bundesliga standings as they faced Real Madrid in the semi-finals of Europe’s elite club competition.
And they were sent packing with a 5-0 aggregate reverse on that occasion, with complacency blamed for their drubbing at the hands of the Spaniards.
The Bundesliga title is all but sewn up this term as well but Muller has made it clear that there will be no repeat of last season’s malaise as the spirit and focus in the camp is as good as it has ever been.
“We’ve just had two games against Dortmund and Leverkusen which have pulled us even tighter together,” he said. “All that matters now is being united on the field, and we’ve got lots of self-confidence.”
Porto have yet to be beaten in this season’s Champions League, however, and are expected to provide Bayern with a stern test, with the visitors’ coach Pep Guardiola taking nothing for granted.
“This is the quarter-finals of the Champions League and that means our opponents are of the highest level,” he told reporters. “Porto are a top team.”
Bayern can be backed at 1.80 to win the game with Porto on offer at 4.50.
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