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The Betfair Big Interview: Jan Aage Fjortoft on the Champions League final

With four days to the Champions League final, Ralph Ellis wonders whether Bayern Munich really should be odds on favourites against Chelsea - even in their own stadium. Former Norwegian international striker Jan Aage Fjortoft, best known in England for his days at Middlesbrough and Sheffield United, is now Sky Germany's top football pundit, so who better to ask?

 

Hi Jan. What are people in Germany making of Bayern's 5-2 thrashing in their cup final?

Statistically it should not have been a surprise - Bayern have lost the last five games between the two. But then to let in five goals in a cup final was surprising. What they are talking about here is that Dortmund are now more or less the kings of German football. And if it happens that Chelsea win the Champions League then there is a big crisis for Bayern. We are all waiting to see how it pans out.

How bad could the psychological damage from that game in Berlin be, then?

It was a great result for Chelsea. Whatever happens now there will be insecurity for Munich's players. We tend to forget when we see big boys, big teams, big players that they are also human beings who started off as little kids and are still insecure when their performance is not right. It would be much better for Bayern if they had taken a trophy from Berlin. It was a good day for Chelsea.

So their manager Jupp Heynckes will be working hard this week.

Absolutely. While Roberto Di Matteo is new to this sort of game, Heynckes has been around as a manager for years. It's maybe through him that they have kept coming back this season every time they have looked down. They have also some players in the team that are best in a big game, but then again that was why it was surprising they did not produce in the cup final.

Is it a factor that Heynckes has won the Champions League before?

Of course, but then he's probably frightened because he got fired the next day when he won it with Real Madrid! That won't happen this time. His experience is important, not only for Madrid but he has been around, he knows Bayern Munich so well. It is a cliché, but the club is known as FC Hollywood because there are always things going on. But Heynckes knows it and more importantly, he is very close to Karl Heinz Rummenigge, Uli Hoeness and Franz Beckenbauer - what a team of great personalities!

When Bayern played Manchester United in the 1999 final, people who visited Munich said they were light years in front of England in training facilities. Are they still ahead of the game?

I think at that time they set the pace for the whole of Europe. A lot of clubs in England then went to Bayern Munich to see a perfect set up, and have copied and caught up. Chelsea would be a case in point. Now Bayern are setting the pace again for financial security. Germans hope that the fair play plan will work in their favour because they have a fantastic financial set up. The new Allianz arena, a modern stadium, will be a perfect venue. They set the pace in continuity in leadership too. Hoeness started as head of sport when he was 27.

Munich are probably as short as 1.86 favourites because they are in their own ground. Will it be an advantage?

Yes of course it will be. But to play a Champions League final where everybody says you are going to win the game is not that easy. Chelsea have shown over the months now that they are hard to beat. A team that got Barcelona out of the competition will be up there. There is a pressure on Bayern because everybody expects them to win.

Arjen Robben now looks a very different player to the one that Chelsea fans will remember.

Maybe, but he is still a hot and cold player, you never know which Robben you will see. Sometimes he is fantastic. I remember when he scored an incredible goal against Man Utd; he has all the abilities but at the same time he is a fragile superstar and sometimes he just disappears. I saw him against Freiburg, a normal midweek game in the Bundesliga, and he wasn't there. He makes the most assists to Mario Gomez, but there are other games when both of them just disappear.

Watching the German Cup final we were surprised how often Munich would try to hit Gomez with an early long ball.

Yes, and when they start doing that it is a sign they are in trouble. Mario Gomez has a lot of ability, more than 40 goals this season, but he can't hold the ball. You could see Robert Lewandowski for Dortmund kept the ball brilliantly, but Gomez couldn't hold anything, he couldn't hold his breath! If Bayern start hitting long balls to Gomez on Saturday that is a great sign for Chelsea if you are betting in-play!

Some of the defending looked poor too.

Last year Bayern had a big problem at the back, but it has been getting better. Now you have Boateng and Badstuber, as well as the man I think is the best goalkeeper in the world in Manuel Neuer. But if there is anything Munich fans will fear it is Didier Drogba against them. They have trouble with big strikers. There is also the Germany captain Philipp Lahm who is very good going forward but I don't think is so good defensively. Then you have David Alaba suspended. I think who will play in central defence is a big worry for Bayern.

We have a free £50 bet for your favourite charity to say thanks for your time. It doesn't sound like you'll be backing the Germans!

No. And I forecast before the semi-final that Bayern would knock out Madrid on penalties so I am on form! I do think Bayern Munich will win the trophy, however, but I think it will need penalties again so I shall put my bet on the draw for 90 minutes at 4.00. The winnings can go to http://www.mtgunitedforpeace.com.

 

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