Hoffenheim vs Bayern Munich preview - Guardiola: I'm the one to blame
Posted Friday, April 17, 2015 by PA
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola says he is the only person to blame for a 3-1 defeat at Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Club doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt and three of his assistants resigned on Thursday night in the wake of Wednesday's defeat amid reports Guardiola had pointed the finger at the club's medical department..
The 72-year-old felt his team had been "made responsible for the defeat for inexplicable reasons," sport1.de reported.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of his side's trip to Hoffenheim on Saturday, Guardiola insisted their departure was nothing to do with the midweek defeat, saying that it was not their fault either.
"I'm the only person responsible for this defeat," said the Catalan. "Just like I was last year when we lost to Real Madrid.
"If a player is injured, then he is injured - it's not the doctor's fault. It happens in football and it's not the doctor's responsibility. I've got no time to complain."
Guardiola was nevertheless without several key players for the midweek defeat and he is likely to be without even more on Saturday.
Philipp Lahm has been ruled out due to illness while Xabi Alonso and Mario Gotze both face late fitness tests.
Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben, Bastian Schweinsteiger, David Alaba, Medhi Benatia and Javi Martinez have been ruled out once again too, but Guardiola is not complaining.
"We can't," he said. "These players are my heroes. I'm delighted to be their coach.
"So they have got to play like heroes tomorrow also. They have had to cope with big problems in recent weeks, yet we are still in three competitions.
"Tomorrow, we can take another step towards defending our title in the Bundesliga, and then next Tuesday we have a big challenge against Porto."
A week later, they host Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal, which is why there is a lot riding on the next 10 days - with Wolfsburg still not giving up on the title, with a 10-point deficit with six games to go.
Hoffenheim cannot be expected to do them any favours either. They still have the chance to qualify for Europe for the first time and Saturday is a huge opportunity for them.
"We're very, very ambitious," said their coach Markus Gisdol, fresh from signing a new two-year contract extension.
"We were close in Dortmund and in Cologne, but we've got to put those behind us and carry on.
"We've got five weeks left and six matches. We're working hard, although clearly the results have been lacking lately."
Unlike Guardiola, Gisdol says he expects to have "a fully-fit squad" to choose from this Saturday.
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