It is not the German way, certainly not Bayern's, to lie back and accept the kicks of fate. Now, in the month of May, coach Ottmar Hitzfeld sets a regimen for his men to eat, sleep and train with nothing on their minds except bringing home the silverware this time around. Wednesday is the first leg of the Champions League semifinal, against Real Madrid in Madrid. Saturday brings the DfB Cup Final, against Werder once again, in the Olympic Stadium, Berlin. Wednesday week is the second leg against Real.
Big bonuses ride on the results.
Each Bayern player vows to settle the score with Bremen and take that cup from the pretender. That is why the children will not see their fathers. Bayern left for Madrid on Tuesday morning and will be on the road until the three games are played. The squad has shown its hunger, its resilience, in clawing back to a position where it can avenge last season's defeats, now they must summon the strength to eliminate last minute aberrations. Everyone at Bayern from the president Franz Beckenbauer down will have had their say behind the dressing room door.