Lopetegui wary of Bayern backlash

Julen Lopetegui is searching for “simple answers” as his Porto side attempt to complete one of the great UEFA Champions League upsets against Bayern Munich.

Porto travel to Munich with a 3-1 lead from last week’s quarter-final first leg after surprising the German champions on their own turf.

Despite that advantage, Pep Guardiola’s Bayern are heavily fancied to turn the tie on its head in Tuesday’s return encounter at the Allianz Arena.

Lopetegui is relishing the challenge, though, and urged Porto to focus purely on the game and not what praise may lay ahead.

“We are focused on the match. We need to put everything we have planned into practice,” he said. 

“It will be a very difficult task, but we will try to find simple answers. We like the idea of playing against Bayern – one of the best teams in the world.

“We can’t think about what could happen, we will just focus on the game tomorrow and try to give the answer on the pitch. We will try to create chances and play our game. We have to focus on our game.

“We need to produce a fantastic performance. We have earned the right to play in the quarter-finals – we have worked hard on this. All matches are crucial [at this stage], we will try everything to succeed and go through to the semis.

“We are proud of what we have achieved in this campaign. 

“We will have the energy, the support and the affection of our fans – who yesterday gave us a massive send-off boost at the airport.”