Beckenbauer: Juventus-Bayern Munich tie on a knife edge

16-Mar-2013 8:12:00 PM

The legendary sweeper believes the two sides will be difficult to separate, despite his allegiance with the Bavarians

Franz Beckenbauer has admitted that Bayern Munich were handed a "tough draw" in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Friday after they were paired with Juventus.

The Bavarians ran out 4-1 victors in the two sides' last meeting back in 2009 - also in Europe's elite club tournament - but their former captain is under no illusions as to the difficulty of the tie that the Bundesliga leaders have been given.

"It is a tough draw. It's 50-50, although it's not such a good thing that Bayern kick the tie off at home," Beckenbauer told Sky Sport Deutschland.

"Whoever leads the Italian league with a nine-point advantage can obviously play football. Malaga or Galatasaray would have been more feasible, but a draw cannot be requested."

Former Bayern trio Stefan Effenberg, current CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and ex-midfielder Lothar Matthaus were also all wary of the Italians' threat.

"It will be an unpleasant task. Juventus can take on any opponent in the world, are incredibly strong defensively and have a superior clock-ticker in Andrea Pirlo," said 1999 Champions League runner-up Effenberg.

Meanwhile, Rummenigge noted: "This is not a dream draw. Although we won 4-1 the last time we played them, we will nonetheless need two more good days in the office to reach the semi-finals.

"I hoped that Bayern would have been paired with another opponent," concluded FCB legend Matthaus.

"They found their style this season and will have two key players available in Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger this time around."