Give us anybody but Bayern, prays Toppmoller
Thursday 21st March 2002
Bayer Leverkusen coach Klaus Toppmoller fears his side will be drawn on Friday against Bayern Munich in the Champions' League quarter-finals.
"For God's sake, we must avoid Bayern at all costs. We really want foreign opposition," he stressed after Leverkusen ran out worthy group winners with a 3-1 stroll against Deportivo La Coruna.
The Bundesliga leaders could also face Liverpool or Panathinaikos, both of whom would suit Toppmoller far better.
"We are proud to join Bayern in the quarter-finals as, in the recent past, only they have kept the German flag flying in Europe at the end of the competition, but we are not keen on playing them," he added.
Leverkusen are through to the last eight of the Champions' League for the first time since 1998 and midfielder Michael Ballack put the achievement down to Toppmoller.
"Our coach chose the right tactics against Deportivo by opting for only one striker and Thomas Brdaric had a superb match," said the Germany midfielder, who joins Bayern in the summer. "Brdaric moved up and down all the time and kept their defence busy.
"But we all have reason to be proud of this performance as the whole team fought bravely. It is a fantastic success for the club and we have shown that the squad have grown together through some tough defeats," he added.
Toppmoller's safety-first decision was influenced by the heavy losses at Juventus (4-0) and Arsenal (4-1) and marked a watershed for the coach who has always previously stuck to an attack-minded 4-4-2 system.
The new five-man midfield, with Ballack at his imperious best in Europe for the first time and Carsten Ramelow a solid ball-winner, did an excellent job in breaking down Depor's attacks before they got started.
"For the first time since my arrival in the summer, we played an away match exactly the way I planned it and even a top side like Depor struggled to create proper chances against our alert defence," said Toppmoller.
"We made bitter tactical mistakes against Juventus and Arsenal and those sides punish you without mercy, but I had always believed the final game in La Coruna would be decisive.
"We knew Depor inside-out as we have monitored them about 12 times. On Wednesday night we played the perfect game."
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