Jeremies warns Bayern
German international Jens Jeremies has warned his Bayern Munich team-mates ahead of their vital UEFA Champions League home game against Lyon on Wednesday, that they must improve heavily compared to their latest set of disappointing performances in the Bundesliga.
Bayern dropped back to fifth in the league following their 2-0 defeat at Schalke and with the Champions League their main priority this term after their embarrassing first round exit last season, Ottmar Hitzfeld's side will need all three points against Lyon to remain in control of Group A.
"The situation is complicated for us at the moment as neither up front nor in the back we show the ultimate effort and if we continue on that path we certainly won't be successful," warned the experienced midfielder.
"Our current squad has a great potential and has even more individual class than in 2001 [when Bayern won the Champions League], but back then we had the absolute will-power and the belief to win any match. We have to see if the current team has the same mental strength," Jeremies told Kicker.
Bayern were fortunate to escape with a 1-1 draw at Lyon last month, but Jeremies is sure that home advantage will help the Bavarians to qualify for the next round.
"We still have two home games left and are strong enough to win both of them," declared the 29-year-old who is set to replace English international Owen Hargreaves, who is still unavailable due to a mysterious hip problem.
Further absentees for Bayern are youngster Bastian Schweinsteiger and probably Sebastian Deisler who is complaining about thigh problems, while French international Willy Sagnol and Tobias Rau have reported back to training, but are likely to start on the bench as Hitzfeld seems set to start with Sammy Kuffour and Bixente Lizerazu as wing backs.
