Duisburg hold Bayern
Bayern Munich boss Ottmar Hitzfeld regretted his side's desire to "play pretty" rather than picking up the three points which would have guaranteed them top spot in the Bundesliga at Christmas.
Despite dominating both possession and territory, Bayern were held to a surprise 0-0 home draw by ten-man Duisburg on Saturday, but stayed top of the league after second-placed Werder Bremen stumbled 4-3 at Hanover.
Bayern's star-studded attack including midfielder Franck Ribery plus strikers Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni - summer signings worth 49 million euros (71.8 million US dollars) - could not break down the guests' defence which has leaked 25 goals already this season.
Even though they had striker Mohammadou Idrissou sent off nine minutes from time, the draw moved Duisburg up to 16th in the league - third from bottom - and means Bayern now have a two-point lead at the top.
Despite captain Oliver Kahn's pre-match insistence Bayern had to dominate Duisburg to prove their mettle as Bundesliga winners, the home side are stuttering after winning just two games in the last seven.
"We showed no passion, we wanted to win the game by playing pretty stuff," said Hitzfeld.
"Naturally, I'm disappointed with the result, we wanted to win and make sure of first place over Christmas.
"But it's our own fault. We found it very difficult, especially after we again failed to take our early chances.
"Duisburg grew in confidence and solidity at the back.
"They defended well with ten men, we couldn't find any gaps, and we never found the spark to prise them open.
"At the end of the day we lacked precision, there were too many misplaced passes.
"I wasn't happy with the first half.
"We showed no passion, we wanted to win the game by playing pretty stuff.
"We were too static, there wasn't enough movement, and our body language gave off all the wrong signals.
"The second half was OK. We got up and at them in the second half; there was a lot more passion about us.
"We tried everything, we put them under a lot more pressure, there was much more action in the box, but we failed to take our chances.
"Duisburg deserved their point, we have to grit our teeth and wave goodbye to two points."
Bayern have just two games left before the Bundesliga begins its winter break.
Their final league game of 2007 sees them take on Hertha Berlin in the German capital on Saturday at the Olympic Stadium and then play Greek side Aris Salonika in the UEFA Cup on December 19 at the Allianz Arena in a group game.
Comments