Van Gaal: Bayern winner offside

Van Gaal: Bayern winner offside

Published Feb. 18, 2010 12:02 p.m. ET

Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal admitted his side were "lucky" to claim a 2-1 lead from their Champions League tie with Fiorentina.

Miroslav Klose scored from an offside position in the last minute of the game at the Allianz Arena to break the hearts of the Italians, who deserved at least a draw for a composed display.

"We have won and that is the important thing," said Van Gaal.

"Fiorentina played tactically very well. They changed their system and we could not work them out.

"That was a shame. At least we did then score a goal in the end, which was clearly offside.

"Therefore, we have been a bit lucky."

Nevertheless, Per Kroldrup's away goal means Fiorentina can now progress to the quarter-finals of the competition with just a 1-0 win in Florence.

Although the situation would have been worse for Bayern had Klose's goal been ruled out, Van Gaal still does not think they have such a big advantage to take with them to Italy.

"We are one goal in front and it is going to be tough in Florence," he said.

"The chances are 50/50, or maybe a little bit more for us."

Bayern travel to the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Tuesday, March 8, when they can expect an angry reaction from a Fiorentina side who, according to midfielder Ricardo Montolivo, "were robbed" in Munich on Wednesday night.

"We played the game we wanted to play, but it's really sad to see certain things happening at this stage of the Champions League," he told Rai Sport.

"Even I saw the offside from the bench and it's really frustrating that we were robbed like this.

"We are still on course to qualify, but we could have been in a better position if it wasn't for the officials."

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