Vogel delighted as Basel find perfect pitch
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
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FC Basel 1893 coach Heiko Vogel praised his team's "perfect harmony" after a first-leg victory over FC Bayern München that left "alarm bells ringing" for counterpart Jupp Heynckes.
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Heiko Vogel, Basel coach
Defensively everything was OK. At the break I told the lads that we needed to make more of our possession; we were able to implement that in the second half and, of course, I got a bit lucky with the substitutions. Now we are in a great position ahead of the second leg. My team have unbelievable will power, a good sense of who they are and a healthy self-confidence.
I was not satisfied with the first half. Offensively we didn't put enough effort in. We're aware that this is only a partial success. However, we have perfect harmony. Every day we enjoy the work we do and that will pay off at some point. This victory is one thing, the overall result another. But we are capable of scoring away goals and if we do that in Munich it will be very difficult for Bayern.
Jupp Heynckes, Bayern coach
It's an uncomfortable situation, but I have been in these situations before in my coaching career. It was a balanced match with good chances for either side. We lost 1-0 and now we're not in an ideal position ahead of the second leg. In the build-up to their goal, we didn't press them aggressively enough.
We are making a lot of mistakes. The alarm bells are ringing, though we have a second leg and can still correct this result. It is certainly possible to beat Basel 2-0 at home.
At the beginning of the game we had two huge chances and should have taken the lead. In these matches you need to make the most of your chances. We need to be calmer and more disciplined, we need to force our luck. But in terms of determination and attitude I can't fault my team.