ANDREAS Hinkel’s current role as manager of VfB Stuttgart II in his native Germany prevents him from taking in many of Celtic’s games these days.
He will, though, be an interested onlooker when his former club play Bayern Munich in a Champions League game in the Allianz Arena tomorrow evening and is hopeful of witnessing an upset.
The one-time right back, who spent three seasons as a player at Parkhead between 2006 and 2008, knows it will not be easy for Brendan Rodgers’ side to even record a draw.
Bayern can, despite not enjoying by their own high standards the best of seasons, field the likes of Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Thiago, Arjen Robben, Kingsley Coman, Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller. Their opponents have also been given a lift by the return of their revered former manager Jupp Heynckes following the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti earlier this month.
Hinkel, who lifted the UEFA Cup and Super Cup during his time with Sevilla in Spain, believes they are capable of winning the Champions League for a sixth time despite their 3-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in their last Group B match.
However, he feels Celtic can still capitalise on the defensive problems which contributed to the downfall of Ancelotti and get a result – provided they take a cautious approach.
“Bayern Munich have had problems since they lost Pep Guardiola to Manchester City last year in my opinion,” he said. “Carlo Ancelotti took over, but he played in a different style. It wasn’t as attractive to watch, they didn’t dominate to the same degree and I don’t know if the players were fit enough either.
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“Yes, he won the Bundesliga, but that’s not enough for Bayern. They want to do well in the Champions League and in the German Cup. They want to win, but they want to win in style. That wasn’t the case under Ancelotti. Fans didn’t understand what his philosophy was.
“They have brought back Jupp Heynckes who did a great job before. They won the treble in his last season there in 2012/13. I think they want to show they can play football again after Ancelotti. They have still got a lot of quality. They have a really good team. It will be difficult for Celtic. Heynckes has only been in charge for one game since returning. So it will also be hard for Celtic to know how to approach the match because the new manager has just taken over.”
But Hinkel, who played in defence for Germany 21 times in his career, believes Bayern are fallible at the back and is confident Celtic can score goals on the counter attack and at set plays.
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“They conceded too many goals under Ancelotti,” he said. “When Heynckes was there before they didn’t. He spoke to the media here last week and made an interesting point: he said that in the last three games they had conceded seven goals. He stated that when Bayern had won the treble they had only let in seven goals in the first half of the season. Heynckes wants to stabilise the team. He feels that in order to compete at the highest level his side needs to be solid defensively.
“But Bayern are not unbeateable just now. They may have a good feeling at the moment with a new manager coming in, but it isn’t stable. They have only won one game. They haven’t managed to go on a run of results.
“Manuel Neuer is a big miss for them. He is a very important player for the team. Sven Ulreich isn’t the same . Not having Neuer is a big part of the reason they were conceding so many goals.
“Jerome Boateng had a long-term injury, Mats Hummels wasn’t always involved either and Neuer had also been out. Their weakness has been at the back. Celtic can maybe do something at set pieces or on the counter attack. But first, of course, they have to get the ball and Bayern are good in possession.”
Hinkel predicted the return to fitness of Neuer, who is sidelined with a broken foot, early next year will enable Bayern to challenge the likes of Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid for the Champions League.
“I think Bayern can still win the tournament,” he said. “ I watched their game in Paris. PSG obviously have an unbelievable offensive line, but Bayern had good possession in the game. They shouldn’t have conceded the first two goals. If Neuer had been playing he would have saved them.
“Boateng, Hummels and Neuer were all missing. If they can get those players back next year then it will be a different team.”
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