Vitoria braced for tough Bayern assignment at home

Benfica are looking to make their home advantage count in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash with Bayern Munich, but coach Rui Vitoria says his side is focused on defence first.

Vitoria will take his team into the contest knowing they need to score due to trailing Bayern 1-0 after the first leg in Munich.

But he remained focused on being responsible at the back when talking to the media before the game, particularly with Nicolas Gaitan in doubt.

“We have to play well defensively as we’re facing one of the best teams in the world, one of the favourites to win the competition and a side who set up the same home and away,” he said.

“Nicolas Gaitan is a doubt and only before the match will I know if I can count on him.”

Vitoria said he was happy with how his side frustrated Pep Guardiola’s men in Munich but admitted Bayern could always change their approach, making them hard to stop over 90 minutes.

“We didn’t win there, but tactically we did well and were very organised,” he said.

“However, we know Bayern are tactically very versatile with lots of resources at their disposal, so if they don’t achieve what they want playing one way they’ll try something else.

“We had 5,000 fans in Munich and tomorrow the supporters will be even more important.”