Every win counts for van Gaal

Bayern Munich may already be through to the last 16 of the Champions League, but coach Louis van Gaal still wants a win over Basel.

Van Gaal’s side cannot be displaced at the top of Group E despite their loss to Roma a fortnight ago, but the Dutchman is determined that they finish the group stage on a high against Basel at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.

“We don’t have to win but we should do. Personally I think Bayern should win every game, especially at home,” van Gaal said.

“But Basel still have the chance to go through and they’re in good shape.”

“We’ve watched them, they’ve played quite well in the last few weeks, so we must show them respect – as we do all our opponents. Basel are a good team.”

“They have some players with great individual ability, but more importantly they work very well together and a good team spirit is much more important than having high-class individuals.”

Bayern’s strong form in the Champions League has been in stark contrast to their domestic form, where they sit in seventh place on the Bundesliga table, 17 points behind league-leaders Borussia Dortmund.

“Our style of play has been consistent, but our results haven’t. We have made individual errors in our last few games and have not scored as many goals as we expect,” van Gaal said.

“But my players know how important every game is and that our goal is to win this one, mainly because we’re at home in front of a sold-out stadium.”

Basel have already sealed qualification for the Europa League knockout stages, but could steal a place in the Champions League last 16 if they can pull off an unlikely victory in Munich and Roma lose to Cluj.

Basel coach Thomas Fink, who is a former Bayern player, said his side would travel to Germany with no pressure on them.

“Playing here is a massive highlight for us and if we could win it would be sensational,” Fink said.

“Bayern are not allowed to lose against us. They are already in quite a difficult period, so losing against a team from the Swiss league is absolutely forbidden. The pressure is on them, while we can keep being relaxed.”

“My players won’t fear the colossal atmosphere of this stadium; every one of them has enough quality to deal with it.”