Half-time substitute Philipp Lahm (r.) says FCB will go into their Champions League semi-final decider with Real Madrid in confident mood
Half-time substitute Philipp Lahm (r.) says FCB will go into their Champions League semi-final decider with Real Madrid in confident mood

Lahm: 'Tuesday's going to be completely different'

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Munich - When Philipp Lahm took to the field at the start of the second half against SV Werder Bremen on Saturday, FC Bayern München seemed to be heading towards a third defeat in four Bundesliga matches.

A circumspect first half, deemed by coach Pep Guardiola to have been the worst since he took charge last summer, raised doubts as to whether Bayern will be able to overturn a 1-0 deficit when they face Real Madrid CF in the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, until Lahm rolled up his sleeves and raised his voice.

Following a second-half turnaround, the Bayern captain spoke about his feelings after a 45-minute run-out, the condition of Franck Ribery and, of course, that game on Tuesday night.

Question:Philipp Lahm, was that a good warm-up for the Real Madrid match?

Philipp Lahm: It's important that we left the field with a positive feeling, and we definitely did that after a decent second half. We turned the game around and dominated it, so that gives us a good feeling, although Tuesday's going to be a completely different game.

Question: You started on the bench. What did you make of the two goals that were conceded in the first half?

Lahm: It's not my job to analyse that here in front of the cameras. We'll do that on Sunday and Monday. You always concede goals when you make mistakes and we've once again done that today. Otherwise, I don’t think we conceded too many chances.

Question: When you concede goals like that, have you got to question the team's concentration?

Lahm: Of course there are some situations where concentration definitely comes into it, and I think that's quite normal, but it can't happen to us against Madrid.

Question: One positive was that Franck Ribery's form seems to be improving...

Lahm: We train every day with Franck and he's making a great impression so I'm not at all concerned about him. It's only normal that he has an odd game where he doesn't play as exceptionally as he was doing a few months back. It affects all of us and I'm optimistic that Franck will play a great game on Tuesday, and that we'll reach the final.

Question: How are Bayern approaching the game against Real?

Lahm: We're going to have our foot down from the start for sure. We always play to win - we played to win in Madrid too - and that's what we'll do on Tuesday also. If we put our hearts and passion into it, then I'm very confident we'll reach the final.

Question: What kind of atmosphere are you expecting in the stadium on Tuesday?

Lahm: It's a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid so there's bound to be a fantastic atmosphere in the stadium, and the team need that too. We need every single fan in the stadium to support us and urge us on.

David Schmidt reporting from Munich

Find out which strikes made it to the Top 5 Goals on the official Bundesliga YouTube channel: