Sunday 6 April 2014

Guardiola insists United focus after losing with weakened side

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola insisted his priority was always the Champions League after the Bundesliga champions fell to defeat at Augsburg.


The German side lost 1-0 to Augsburg - their first defeat in 54 games - to leave them winless in three going into the game with Manchester United.

Guardiola fielded a weakened side for the loss and came in for criticism from other Bundesliga coaches, but stressed that the European game took precedence.

"If this had been important, then Philipp (Lahm), Franck (Ribery) and Arjen (Robben) would all have been here," he said.

"The Bundesliga is over - that's in Bayern's museum already and is staying there.

"We tried to win and fought hard, but you can't always win in football and we've got to accept that.

"Now we've got to prepare for our final against Manchester United as soon as possible."

Guardiola's rotation did not receive much approval from the rest of the Bundesliga, though, with Eintracht Frankfurt coach Armin Veh critical of the way the champions snubbed the league.

"You can always lose to Augsburg - that's fair enough. But if you look at the team they sent out, then you've got to say that they were architects of their own demise," Veh told Sky television.
 
Schalke director of sport Horst Heldt added that it's "not good style", joking that "maybe they had a lot of injuries".

Bayern midfielder Toni Kroos defended Guardiola's team selection, saying it was "only normal that you do it when you're already champions".

He added: "It just didn't work out. We want to win every game - even (Saturday's). It doesn't mean we just gift games."

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