Salihamidzic tipping Bayern over Juve

Hasan Salihamidzic believes Bayern Munich are slight favourites in their upcoming Champions League quarter-final showdown with Juventus.

The former Bosnia and Herzegovina international, who played for both sides, is anticipating an epic bout between two genuine European heavyweights, but is tipping the Bundesliga leaders to come out on top.

“This is a really tight game,” Salihamidzic told Hamburger Morgen Post. “For me, this pairing has really come too early. This would have been something more fitting for the final.

“Juventus have grown incredibly over the last two years; trying to break them down is a very difficult task.

“However, Bayern, for me, are the slight favourites. Still, they will only go through with a top performance.”

Salihamidzic is hoping Jupp Heynckes’ men do not take their eye off the ball ahead of this weekend’s league outing against another of his former clubs, Hamburg.

“Usually, Hamburg have no chance in this fixture,” he said. “But it will be important that Bayern do not have Juve on their minds.

“I can only hope that they take the Hamburg game very seriously. They need to have their foot on the gas. You cannot just say, ‘We will be champions anyway’.

“I think that this has been the case in the past few weeks, and it just does not work. A defeat against Hamburg would hurt their confidence.”

Bayern tackle Hamburg at the Allianz Arena on Saturday before hosting Juve at the same venue on Tuesday evening in the first leg of the quarter-final.