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Heynckes hails Bayern's strength in depth

FC Bayern München coach Jupp Heynckes paid tribute to his squad's focus amid a busy, testing period after they completed an emphatic aggregate win over Olympique de Marseille.

Heynckes hails Bayern's strength in depth
Heynckes hails Bayern's strength in depth ©UEFA.com

Jupp Heynckes, Bayern coach 
We played with a great deal of focus, especially given we are in a run of so many matches. In the first half Manuel Neuer came to the rescue several times but after the interval we came back stronger and deserved the win. Marseille weren't in the quarter-finals for nothing. They ousted strong opponents in Dortmund and Inter to get here. They gave their all and played with three strikers.

I said to the players before kick-off that at the start of the season we would have been delighted to be told we would still be in all three competitions now. But in the end you have to win silverware. We have a lot of big games ahead and we need all our players.

Mario Gomez was fit but if I don't rotate now, we will lose stamina in the end. You could see with Ivica Olić just how important it is to motivate, to give them time on the pitch and let them enjoy success. It is very important, because he can be an option in the games to come.

We have to save our energy – we have a huge programme to come. The semi-final matches against Real Madrid will of course be highlights. Bayern have a history against them and it's fairly positive. The two Spanish clubs maybe, no certainly, are still a little bit superior to us. But in two games you can beat even Real Madrid.

Didier Deschamps, Marseille coach 
When you're knocked out, it is always disappointing. Now we have to recover both physically and mentally. Today we did all we could but there are understandable differences between our team and Bayern. We needed to be at 100% in each game and rely on them making mistakes to do any better. Obviously, that did not happen.

At half-time I didn't ask my players to score four goals. We had to show honour and pride in the last 45 minutes. Of course, we tried to score but we had to stop them playing too.

We had chances at the start through Jérémy Morel, Loïc Rémy and Stéphane Mbia, then Bayern scored with their first opportunity. It's no surprise Bayern went through, especially after the first leg, but we can be proud. In the previous round, we defied odds. This time it was too hard. None of our players had previously appeared in a Champions League quarter-final so it will be a good experience for them.

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