Vogel hopes Basel can trip Bayern

FC Basel 1893's reward for knocking out Manchester United FC is a UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie with FC Bayern München and their coach Heiko Vogel, who is more than familiar with the German club, said: "Once more, David fights Goliath."

Basel tangled with Bayern in the group stage last season and lost 2-1 at home to a last-gasp Bastian Schweinsteiger goal before their elimination was confirmed by a 3-0 defeat at Fußball Arena München – venue for the 2012 final. This time, the Swiss champions made it through courtesy of their 2-1 matchday six defeat of United at St. Jakob-Park and Vogel, confirmed as full-time coach in the wake of that result, knows they must upset the odds again to make their first quarter-final in this competition since 1973/74, the season four-time champions Bayern lifted their debut European crown.

"Once more, David fights Goliath," said Vogel, a youth coach at Bayern for nine years until 2007. "We accept this role and like it a lot and want to trip up Bayern now. But for that to happen, everything has to come together.

"The task is even a tad more difficult than against Manchester United. You just have to name some of their players like [Franck] Ribéry, [Arjen] Robben, Thomas Müller and Mario Gomez. It will be rather more difficult than last year. [The final in Munich] will give additional motivation to their players and coach. This is why it will be very, very difficult to defy them for 180 minutes."

Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, however, is well aware that Basel's group performance marks them out as tough opponents, with the first leg to be played in Switzerland on 22 February before the Munich return on 13 March. "We must not forget that this team has prevailed in a very difficult group and has ousted Manchester United," he said. "They have highly talented young players and an enthusiastic crowd. Also, they are a side with experience in Europe."

Philipp Lahm, meanwhile, is looking forward to some reunions. "Basel is definitely a doable task; we are favourites in this round of 16 tie. But it is also a dangerous task, as could be seen twice against United. Last year when we travelled to Basel, it was a tight game. I am looking forward to meeting to old acquaintances of mine: coach Heiko Vogel, and Marco Streller, with whom I played at VfB Stuttgart."