Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 9y

Pep Guardiola says Bayern Munich wins vs. Roma could seal group

FC Bayern Munich want to make a step towards the Champions Leagues knockout stages against the best Italian club right now, Pep Guardiola has told a news conference.

The Bundesliga champions currently sit at top of Champions League Group E following two 1-0 victories against Manchester City and at CSKA Moscow. On Tuesday, FC Bayern face AS Roma at the Olimpico di Roma.

The Rudi Garcia side sit second in the group, as well as in Serie A, where they have won 18 points from their first seven games of the season.

"We've got four matches left to play, and everything can happen. But we are at top of the group," Bayern winger Arjen Robben told a news conference in Roma on Monday. But the Netherlands international warned that "AS Roma currently play the best football in Italy."

Bayern coach Pep Guardiola echoed this sentiment. "We've got a huge opportunity. Should we win both games against Roma we are through to the knockout stages," the Catalan coach said. "Sadly Roma are not a bad team. They've got very fast players."

Towards the end of his career Guardiola made Serie A appearances for AS Roma in the first half of the 2002-03 season. "It's good to back here. But I only played in Rome for six months. It was a short, but good time."

At that time, Roma attacker Francesco Totti was already about to enter his second decade as a professional at the club, and Guardiola joked: "When I was in Rome, I sat on the bench, and Totti played. It's the same today."

"When you still play football when you are 38, you've got a huge passion for the sport," Guardiola praised his former teammate. "That's just outstanding. And Rudi Garcia helps that he can continue to play for a long time. Usually a 38-year-old professional has enough money in the bank, and retires. But Totti still plays because he loves the game."

Midfielder Thomas Muller also singled out Totti. "He's a legend, not only in Rome," he said. "His loyalty to the club is extraordinary. You can only raise your hat to him. But it doesn't help, we still want to beat him."

The 2013 Champions League winners will be without second keeper Tom Starke, who is set for longer spell on the sideline. The 33-year-old suffered an ankle injury in training on Sunday, and already underwent surgery, the club announced on their official website. With Pep Reina also out injured, FC Bayern under-23 keeper Leopold Zingerle is set to make the matchday squad.

Spanish midfielder Thiago also did not make the trip to Rome, and instead is awaiting knee surgery in Barcelona on Tuesday. Last week, the 23-year-old suffered a third ligament tear in his knee.

Only on Monday, German papers reported that the rift between the Bayern board and Pep Guardiola has grown bigger over the treatment of the Spain international. But Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was quick to reject those reports.

"I sense a number of false facts and untruths circulating in public. The truth is that the player has unfortunately injured himself twice. There have been no mistakes, neither by Spanish doctors nor German doctors," Rummenigge said.

"Surgery in America was never considered as an option. Right from the start, after he picked up another injury, it was clear he would undergo surgery in Spain. The Spanish doctor is very good indeed, and incidentally uses the same methods as in Vail [Colorado] in America."

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