Bayern reflect on muted triumph

Ottmar Hitzfeld conceded that last night's 1-0 home win against CF Os Belenenses in the UEFA Cup was "not a wonderful result" for his ambitious FC Bayern München side.

Forgettable performance
Playing in the competition for the first time in eleven years, the Bundesliga giants were not expected to struggle against the side from Lisbon, but despite a 64,000 crowd at the Fußball Arena München, Bayern did not impress. Lukas Podolski, standing in for the injured Miroslav Klose, had a forgettable game and it was left to Luca Toni to score the only goal after 34 minutes.

'I'm disappointed'
Italian FIFA World Cup winner Toni almost missed the match with a nagging thigh injury but ended up being the star of the show as Bayern struggled to find the spark that lit up their early Bundesliga games. "Naturally I'm disappointed about the result," conceded a disappointed Hitzfeld. "One-nil is not a wonderful result - we expected a lot more."

'More respect'
Belenenses coach Jorge Jesus saw things differently, as he looked forward to bringing Bayern back to the O Restelo Stadium on 4 October. "We were the unknown side tonight but I think we will be accorded a lot more respect in the return leg," he said. Bayern defender Christian Lell, however, did not anticipate too many problems for his side in Lisbon. "We kept a clean sheet and scored a goal so now we can travel to Portugal in a relaxed mood," he said. "We will have to be wary in Lisbon but if we put in a solid performance we'll have no problems."