Group A – Kick-off 19:45 (BST)
Louis van Gaal is still hopeful that his Bayern Munich team can qualify from Group A despite conceding that his players are lacking confidence at the moment.
Bayern must achieve a better result against Maccabi Haifa than second-placed Juventus achieve at Bordeaux.
“It’s not in our hands any longer, but it’s still possible to go through to the knockout phase,” he said. “We will focus on our game, not on Bordeaux against Juventus. Haifa have a good team and we will have to concentrate to beat them. They are technically very strong, are enjoying a good run and aren’t under any pressure.
“My team is not very confident these days, so I have to talk a lot with the players – I am doing a lot of psychological work. We have to work together as a team to be successful again.
‘Our fans are unhappy and I can understand them. The criticism is very normal. I’m trying to focus on my players and our game now.”
Van Gaal’s opposite number Elisha Levi is taking heart from recent displays against Juventus and Bordeaux and is confident the Israeli outfit can register their first points of the group stages.
“We are very well prepared, mentally and physically,” he said. “We will concentrate on ourselves. We have shown against Juventus and Bordeaux that we can create chances and we know anything is possible in Munich.
“We haven’t been very lucky until now, but we should not feel pressure because of this. We trust in our ability. Of course we win and we lose as a team but we are happy now that our best players are back.
“We know how strong Bayern are. We are doing everything to prepare in the best possible way. We are aware of Bayern’s problems but the match-up between the two sides is clear. I think we were worth a few goals in our previous matches.
“Some extra experience wouldn’t have done us any harm and at times we were unlucky. Mentally it didn’t affect us as our 100 per cent record in the league proves. ”
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