Bayern Munich vs Werder Bremen - Pep warns Bayern about veteran hitman Pizarro
Posted Friday, March 11, 2016 by PA
Pep Guardiola says Bayern Munich will have to watch out for the most prolific veteran in the Bundesliga when Werder Bremen visit the Allianz Arena.
Claudio Pizarro makes his return to Munich this weekend as the league's leading goalscorer in 2016 with nine goals - one more than Bayern's Robert Lewandowski.
"Claudio's not only a threat against Bayern Munich, he is a top, top player in the penalty area - he's incredible," Guardiola said at a press conference.
"It was an honour to be his coach for two years and I'm looking forward to seeing him again tomorrow, because he's a great guy.
"He's the best centre-forward I've known in my career. When he gets the ball in the penalty area, then watch out.
"He's the best when he's in the box."
Guardiola will therefore be hoping his players keep the ball away from the Peruvian inside Bayern's penalty area, by restricting Bremen's attacks entirely.
Bayern lost their one and only game at the Allianz Arena this season a fortnight ago with Mainz taking just a few chances on the counter-attack to throw the Bundesliga title race wide open.
"We've got to ensure we don't concede so many on counters," Guardiola said.
"It's almost impossible to prevent them, but when we have the ball, we can control it.
"What we need to know is what we have to do when we lose the ball, and it will be the same against Juventus."
Bayern clash with the Italian champions in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday.
With Borussia Dortmund just five points behind in the league, Guardiola says Bayern cannot take any chances.
"We've got nine Bundesliga games to go and we saw yesterday how good Dortmund are," he said.
"They can win all of their last nine games. But it's up to us.
"I've only got Bremen in my mind this week, not Juventus. In three years here in Germany, I have learnt that there is no such thing as an easy game.
"Bremen are probably in their best form of the season right now."
Bremen arrive without their captain Clemens Fritz and set-piece specialist Zlatko Junuzovic, both of whom deliberately picked up yellow cards last weekend to ensure they would miss the trip to Munich.
The pair were fined by the German Football Association on Friday, but their bans remain unaltered.
"As far as I am concerned, your next game is always the most important one so this is a question for Bremen's coach, not for me," Guardiola said.
"I've never met a player who said 'I don't care, we're playing Bayern and we're not going to be able to win it'.
"Darmstadt were lacking five men when they played us and we all saw how hard that was. I'm expecting Werder to be at their best."
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