Hitzfeld explains duo's departure

FC Bayern München coach Ottmar Hitzfeld defended his decision to take off Franck Ribéry and Lukas Podolski before losing the lead in their 2-2 UEFA Cup Group F draw with injury-hit Bolton Wanderers FC.

Bolton equaliser
Ribéry had twice set up Podolski as Bayern recovered from conceding early and looked on course for a second win in as many group fixtures. However, both were replaced not long after Podolski's second goal on 49 minutes, and Kevin Davies equalised late on as Bayern came to rue some missed chances in a game they dominated.

Fixture congestion
Bayern president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was reportedly “furious” with the result, but Hitzfeld said he had no choice as the Bundesliga leaders face reigning champions VfB Stuttgart within 48 hours. The coach said: "I took [Podolski] off because he will be playing against Stuttgart," he said. "[And Ribéry] would not have been able to prevent the equaliser. It looked like we were in control, but then we were careless and lacked concentration, conceding an unnecessary goal from a throw-in."

Confidence
Still, Bayern lead Group F and Hitzfeld is upbeat about their chances with a trip to SC Braga and home tie with Aris Thessaloniki FC to come. "We have dropped two points unnecessarily but I remain confident that we can finish top of the group," he said, before adding that English Premier League strugglers Bolton "are better than their position suggests. We have watched them play and know that they have fewer points than they deserve."

Megson delight
Bolton manager Gary Megson has only been in the job a fortnight after the poor start to the season did for Sammy Lee, and he was a delighted man on his European managerial bow in the absence of several key players. "We kept going," he said. "The attitude and application of the players was exceptional. When you come to a place like this teams can be beaten before they start. But we began brightly and got that goal from Ricardo [Gardner], which was just what we wanted."

Spirit

We had 12 players missing tonight against a club of this stature, and it was terrific