Guardiola: Bayern must show passion and heart to beat Madrid

Posted Thursday, April 17, 2014 by YAHOO Sport

Pep Guardiola has called upon Bayern Munich to show "passion and heart" in its next games as it looks to progress to the finals of the Champions League and DFB-Pokal.

The Bavarian giants have won just one of their last five games in all competitions (a 3-1 victory over Manchester United in their quarterfinal tie) during which time they lost two consecutive Bundesliga matches.

But Bayern, having already wrapped up the league title, is still in with a chance of winning a second straight treble, as it faces Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal semifinal on Wednesday a week before the first leg of its Champions League last-four meeting with Real Madrid.

And Guardiola has urged his players to up their game and show more desire if they are to reach the final of each competition.

"We need to show passion and heart," he told the Bundesliga's official website. "That's the only way we'll make it to the final in Berlin and overcome Real Madrid to reach the Champions League final. Sometimes defeats help you to improve."

The coach then urged his "exceptional players to go back to playing their own game".

Captain Philipp Lahm reiterated his coach's point, insisting his side cannot slip up like it did against Borussia Dortmund at the weekend.

"We have to perform to 100 percent of our abilities, concentrate on the game and not make so many mistakes like we did against Dortmund."