Two years after missing out on a Champions League final, Franck Ribery gets another chance to go for the biggest prize in European club football when his Bayern Munich side plays Chelsea in Saturday's final.
Ribery was suspended for the 2010 final when Bayern lost to Inter Milan 2-0 and his teammates hope the France winger will prove to be the difference this time around.
Bayern captain Philipp Lahm and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger say Ribery could turn out to be key to victory that would give Bayern its fifth title and its first in 11 years.
Lahm thinks this time the France winger will be highly motivated, especially since Bayern is playing at its own stadium.
''We've all learned from 2010. We were an attacking team and we were punished. Ribery could be the decisive player tomorrow. He could make the difference,'' Lahm said.
''Many of our players were in the final in 2010, we've developed since then. Now, we are much more confident, we know that we can win this game,'' the Germany defender added.
Schweinsteiger also thought Ribery could be the decisive player.
''He is an excellent player who can make the difference,'' said Schweinsteiger, another of eight Germany internationals on Bayern's team.
''We hope to get through the early minutes without conceding a goal and we want to impose our own game. When we look at the home games in the Champions League this season, we've dominated them,'' Schweinsteiger said.
Bayern has won 14 of its last 15 Champions League matches, including seven straight at home, while Chelsea has only one win on the road this season.
Speaking a day earlier, Ribery said the team will muster every last bit of energy to bring home a trophy that may have seemed destined for Bayern ever since its stadium was chosen as the venue for the final.
''Lose? That's not possible. And if we are dead after the game, then we are dead,'' he said.
''We must not even think about it (defeat),'' he said. ''If we win the Champions League, then we can forget about not winning the league or the cup, nobody will care about that.''
Bayern was overshadowed in domestic competitions by Borussia Dortmund, which won its second straight Bundesliga championship, beating Bayern twice. Bayern was also routed 5-2 by Dortmund in the German Cup final one week ago.
Coach Jupp Heynckes said the Champions League was a different competition.
''We've played an excellent Champions League and to win the title would be icing on the cake,'' he said.
Lahm said playing in Munich is an advantage, at least for him.
''I was born in Munich, I grew up in Munich, Bayern is my hometown team and I joined the club as an 11 year old, so I am really at home here,'' Lahm said. ''It is being called the final at home, and for me it really is at home. We can stay in our usual hotel, where we stay before every match.
''We know the dressing rooms, we are basically at our own home and we will have the same preparation for this game as we have had for any other Champions League game,'' Lahm added.
