Lucio calls on boys from Brazil

With FC Bayern München's UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg being billed locally as a 'Duel with Team X', Lucio has been trying to find information about the relatively unknown Getafe CF from further afield. But if he was hoping for reassurance from his Spain-based Brazil team-mates Robinho and Julio Baptista, he did not get it.

'No easy game'
"I don't know much about Getafe," the centre-back admitted. "But I've spoken to some of my compatriots, Robinho and Julio, in Spain and they tell me there is no such thing as an easy game against Getafe." The Real Madrid CF pair are justified in their opinion. In February, Getafe did what no other team had done in the Primera División this season and claimed three points at the Santiago Bernabéu. They have also won at Tottenham Hotspur FC , Aalborg BK and SL Benfica in a memorable debut campaign in European competition and Lucio is keen for Bayern to avoid becoming their latest victim. "We are not taking Getafe lightly," the 29-year-old said. "They are certainly not a bad side and games in knockout competition are always difficult."

Scoring form
With 57 European outings under his belt, including some notable ones during Bayer 04 Leverkusen's surprise march to the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League final, Lucio speaks from experience. This is his first UEFA Cup campaign, however, and he has wasted little time in becoming acquainted with the tournament, registering two of Bayern's 28 competition goals this term as they have sailed into the last eight. That works out at just under three goals a game from Ottmar Hitzfeld's men, and the Bavarians provide three of the UEFA Cup's top eight scorers – even if Lucio is convinced their real strength lies elsewhere.

Defensive foundations
"I think a lot of people recognise that our foundations are in our defence," he said. "In this area, more than any other, I think we've been much improved on last season, much more focused and harder to break down." The facts support the theory, with Bayern's stingy goals-against column of 15 from 26 matches eclipsing every other side in the Bundesliga, where Hamburger SV are the only other team to have shipped less than a goal a game. Such miserliness could prove key if Getafe live up to the billing given them by Lucio's compatriots. "We have to make sure we deny them a goal – it is imperative we keep a clean sheet on home soil."