Eintracht Frankfurt vs Bayern Munich - Heynckes defends team selection against PSG

Posted Friday, December 08, 2017 by PA

Bayern Munich manager Jupp Heynckes was forced to explain his team selection for the Champions League win against Paris St Germain ahead of the return to Bundesliga action at Eintract Frankfurt.

Bayern beat PSG 3-1 on Tuesday with Corentin Tolisso scoring twice to advance to the last 16 as Group B winners - but Thomas Muller, Arturo Vidal, Jerome Boateng and Javi Martinez all sat on the bench.

League leaders Bayern travel to eighth-placed Frankfurt's Commerzbank-Arena on Saturday, and while 72-year-old Heynckes expects the quartet to feature in his starting line-up, he also explained his reasons for not starting them in midweek.

"Tolisso did a really good job in training and he's a great boy in terms of behaviour and character. He's a goalscoring prospect, which I take into account, of course," Heynckes told Kicker when asked about Vidal's absence.

On Martinez, the German said: "He played permanently, so it took a lot of energy and I got the impression that a break would be good for him and that's how it was."

Heynckes also chose not to start Muller and Boateng due to their recent injuries, choosing instead to stagger their return to action.

"He (Muller) was injured six weeks, played on Saturday and had huge running data, so of course the risk is three days later that he a) does not get the same performance again and b) may also be injured. That's why I did not do that," the Bayern boss said.

"Boateng? He was always injured for a long time. I did not want to risk that.

"The players are of course not so pleased about it. You have to do some convincing, but they respect and accept that.

"I was convinced it would work, and of course it's motivating for the guys who do not have that much playing experience, but usually all four move back into the regular team, but I'll decide that tomorrow."

Bayern's record against Eintracht is impressive. While coaching Bayern, Heynckes is yet to lose a match against the Hesse side, winning nine and drawing three games.

Bayern have not lost against Eintracht Frankfurt in 12 matches, with the last defeat dating back to March 2010 when they lost 2-1.

However, Eagles midfielder Marius Wolf is up for the challenge of toppling Bayern after a morale-boosting 2-1 away win at Hertha Berlin.

"They're obviously a really good team. They're back to their old selves since Jupp Heynckes took over, and you saw that most recently in the Champions League against PSG," the 22-year-old told the club's official website.

"We can get something against Bayern, though. We're all really up for this match and aren't approaching it any differently to previous games.

"We're in good form and we got a very important away win in Berlin last time out. We're determined to take that positive momentum forward."