Hitzfeld: Toni will inspire us April 24 2008
Bayern Munich will have to win away from home once again if they are to reach the final of the UEFA Cup this season.
A 1-1 draw at home to Zenit St. Petersburg on Thursday night leaves Ottmar Hitzfeld's side in the same situation they were after the first leg of their quarter-final against Getafe.
With two goals from Luca Toni rescuing the tournament favourites in the second leg, Hitzfeld will be relieved to have the tournament's top goalscorer available again after suspension next Thursday.
"He is the top scorer, a world champion and he can make the difference," said Hitzfeld.
Franck Ribery and Ze Roberto created numerous openings for Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski in the first half with the Bayern attack looking lively.
Ribery scored after his penalty was saved in the 18th minute, but perhaps with Toni on the field, they would have been able to convert more of their chances with Hitzfeld bemoaning his side's profligacy in front of goal.
"We were not decisive enough and the final pass was all that we lacked in the first half," he added.
"Clearly Toni is one of the best in his position in the world and it is hard to replace him, but we still created chances and if Podolski had a bit more luck, he would have scored too."
While Hitzfeld can welcome Toni back next week, he may be without Oliver Kahn, who trapped a nerve, and Klose, who broke his nose.
"Kahn will receive treatment from Dr. (Hans-Wilhelm) Muller-Wohlfahrt, but after (Mark) van Bommel's break, Klose has become the next to get an unlucky break."
Zenit coach Dick Advocaat had promised his side would look to attack Bayern, pointing towards the way his side won 4-1 at Bayer Leverkusen in the previous round as evidence of what his side is capable of.
And Bayern became the latest Bundesliga side to struggle against a side who apparently like playing in Germany.
Advocaat had claimed that the quality of the pitches in Europe were better than in Russia, and his team certainly appeared to enjoy playing on the lush surface at the Fussball Arena Munchen.
The same will not be the case in Russia, but that could play into his side's hands.
"It (the pitch) will be a surprise," said Advocaat. "That could be our advantage."
However, the Dutch coach added that his side will still be underdogs in their own back yard, particularly since Andrei Arshavin, Radek Sirl and Fernando Ricksen will all be suspended after picking up yellow cards on Thursday.
"We are missing several players, including three injured players too and the suspended players, so those will make a difference next week," he added.