Bayern Munich vs PSV Eindhoven - Carlo Ancelotti dismisses Bayern Munich crisis talk

Posted Tuesday, October 18, 2016 by PA

Carlo Ancelotti insists crisis talk at Bayern Munich is premature ahead of their Champions League clash with PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday.

After winning his first eight games in charge of the German giants, Ancelotti has seen his team fail to claim victory in any of their past three matches.

A Champions League loss to Atletico Madrid was followed by draws in the Bundesliga with Cologne and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Bayern's consistent excellence in recent years means such a run has generated a lot of attention, and Ancelotti admitted he was not happy with his players against Frankfurt.

But he remains positive and a record 14th consecutive home victory in the Champions League against PSV would go a long way towards righting the ship.

In a press conference reported by uefa.com, Ancelotti said: "I wasn't happy with some things against Frankfurt, like the players' attitude. But I don't want to punish the players. They need to understand what was good and not so good.

"But I think it's too early to talk about crisis. We started the season very well and won all our games."

Bayern remain top of the Bundesliga despite the two draws but face the prospect of needing to beat Atletico if they are to claim first place in Group D.

They will be without winger Franck Ribery, who faces a couple of weeks on the sidelines with a muscle injury, but Douglas Costa, Robert Lewandowski and Holger Badstuber could return to the starting line-up.

Defender Mats Hummels said: "We are under a bit of pressure at the moment, we want to finish first so we need to beat PSV.

"It's at home, we know we are favourites, but we're not so happy with our performances recently and we know tomorrow won't be easy.

"Straight after the game in Frankfurt we sat down as a team and spoke honestly. All of us players know that recent performances simply haven't been good enough."

PSV are also without a win in three games and their prospects of reaching the knockout stages were hurt by a draw with Rostov last time out.

The Dutch side have not won an away Champions League match since the 2007-08 season, although they are unbeaten in 22 away games in all competitions dating back 12 months.