BayernForum.com

25.02.2007

Slowly but surely, normal service is being resumed at Bayern as the champions battle their way out of a sporting trough. Four days after a morale-boosting Champions League performance away to Real Madrid, the Bavarians registered a second league victory of 2007 with a 2-1 win over VfL Wolfsburg to remain within touching distance of a Champions League qualifying place.

"We needed the three points, to stay in touch at the top and get started on a winning run," coach Ottmar Hitzfeld commented after Saturday's fixture in front of a 69,000 full house at the Allianz Arena. "It's something to build on," added Lukas Podolski, scorer of the opening goal from the penalty spot on 26 minutes and one of the home side's stars on the day.

<b>More determination</b>

The Reds were a trifle fortunate to preserve a clean sheet in the opening phase, only the brilliance of Oliver Kahn denying the visitors' Marcelinho and Alexander Madlung. "We're starting a little too cautiously at the moment, as we all saw in Madrid and Aachen. We've conceded early goals in both matches," captain Kahn observed. "That has to stop. We have to be wide awake from the kick-off."

Kahn's troops appeared fully alert once the match was a quarter of an our old. "We controlled the play after that," Hitzfeld remarked, praising his side's attacking efforts: "We played some penetrating balls forward and fashioned a couple of very good moves."

<b>Van Bommel in command</b>

Once again, Mark van Bommel was a commanding presence in midfield. "He's happier in a central role," Hitzfeld revealed. The Netherlands international spent the afternoon shouting orders, geeing up his team-mates, playing intelligent passes and getting into shooting positions. "We've taken a good step forward, but we need to take a few more steps to get where we want to be, which is right at the top," the combative player declared.

Van Bommel made the score 2-0 on 55 minutes with practically a carbon copy of his late strike in Madrid, crowning a phase of the match which saw Bayern continuously on the attack. Nor did the Reds give up and settle for what they had at that point. "In normal circumstances we should have won 3-0, or 3-1 would have been about right. But we neglected to score a third," Hitzfeld complained.

<b>Improvement still needed</b>

Instead, Cedrick Makiadi pulled one back 11 minutes from time to give the visitors an unlikely glimpse of a point. "Their goal goes down as unnecessary," Hitzfeld observed. "You'll often concede the odd goal when your opponents take a few risks. But after they'd scored, I was pleased with the way we prevented them creating any more chances. That was another step forward."

Bayern are not in action again until this coming Saturday away to Hertha Berlin. "We have a full week for training. We'll be trying a few things out," Hitzfeld announced. "We'll still have to improve if we want to take something from Berlin." Summarised Van Bommel: "We're heading in the right direction. If we can keep it up, there has to be plenty of hope for the future."