Dubai: Bayern Munich must balance their side with youth after crashing out of the Uefa Champions League semi-final last week, according to former Munich midfielder Thorsten Fink.
Key players Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and David Alaba were injured for both legs of a 5-3 aggregate defeat to Barcelona as coach Pep Guardiola came up short against his old side.
But Fink, who made 150 appearances for the five-time European champions between 1997 and 2003, winning the Champions League in 2001, said if the Bavarians are to build upon this defeat they must merge more youth with experience.
“What I saw is that [Bastian] Schweinsteiger and [Xabi] Alonso are too old. We must play with speed. Alaba is a quick player but we need more speed in midfield if we are to improve in the future,” said Fink, who is on the look out for coaching roles in the UAE.
“Now they know what they must do in the future, buy new players who can make a difference next year. You need one experienced player and one quick young player to develop and improve, but we saw Thiago [Alcantara] was not 100 per cent, [Javi] Martinez was not there, in all it wasn’t a lucky time for Bayern to play Barce.
“That was the only difference between this year and two years ago when we beat Barcelona [7-0 on aggregate in the semi-final]. Barce were in better shape, condition and form, whereas we were without Ribery, which is like Barcelona playing without [Lionel] Messi. Important players make the difference in this kind of game.”
Securing the Bundesliga title too soon may have dented Bayerns’ Champions League chances, he added.
“We played well all season and won the championship with a lot of games to spare [four]. That was the problem, we won the championship too early and that took the power out of the team.
“We had to wait for the Champions League. It’s a question of form and what happens on the day that makes the small differences between these teams.”
Fink also said that Guardiola’s decision to snub Manchester City in order to stay with Bayern was a big positive.
“Guardiola is a very good coach, Bayern have developed a lot and changed a lot of things in their system because to him. If we want to take this title back in the future, I’d say Guardiola staying is key. He is the right man now for Bayern.”
