Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes has told his star-studded squad that they need to pass through the pain barrier to bounce back from their shock German league loss at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
The Bundesliga leaders suffered a 3-1 defeat at fourth-placed Gladbach last Friday, which has forced a three-way tie at the top of the table with Bayern, champions Borussia Dortmund and Schalke all locked on 37 points.
Gladbach's rising stars Marco Reus and Patrick Herrmann found plenty of space to exploit in the Bayern defence and Heynckes says his side must show a winner's attitude when they host Wolfsburg in Munich on Saturday.
"All in all, the team must learn and understand that superior skills are not enough these days," Heynckes told German daily Bild.
"Everyone must be prepared to pass through the pain barrier if necessary."
After an error-strewn performance at Gladbach, Heynckes called for his side to cut out the mistakes against 2009 German champions Wolfsburg.
"We have to minimise the source of our errors," he said. "We must be cool and concentrated in our finishing. What is critical is that the team works harder at the back and is more robust in one-on-one challenges."
Having finished 2011 with a three-point lead at the top of the table and a place in the Champions League round of 16 next month against FC Basel, Heynckes says his players have been guilty of over confidence.
"That goes without saying," said the 66-year-old. "We have superior skills and individual players, but you can never sit back at Bayern.
"It is my job to make sure the players get the message, not just this week, but until the end of May."
Bayern will be without Belgium defender Daniel Van Buyten for several weeks after the centre-back broke a metatarsal bone in his foot against Gladbach, but Heynckes says there will be no panic buying in the transfer market.
"In my experience, you don't make really good transfers during the winter," he said.
"We won't be picking up any new players and we can compensate for the loss of Van Buyten."
Heynckes has said he will not punish any of his players for inappropriate comments made on Twitter or other social networks, but warned it was up to his squad to act like professionals.
Both defender Breno and midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk landed themselves in hot water with the Bayern coach recently for postings on Twitter.
"I don't think much of prohibiting or punishing, but the players know that they need to be careful," said Heynckes.
"It's not okay when the players take pictures before the game or reveal things -- as Tymoshchuk did -- and post it on the net," he said.
"That is tomfoolery and unprofessional."
Source: AFP
