The Germany camp expect to have to rebuild the battered confidence of their Bayern Munich stars ahead of Euro 2012 in the wake of the Bavarians’ Champions League final defeat at the hands of Chelsea.

The Blues beat Bayern 4-3 on penalties in Saturday’s final after it finished 1-1 after extra time in Munich and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger was left distraught when he hit the post with his spot-kick to set-up Chelsea’s win.…

Even though Scahlke lost to Manchester United 2-0 in the Champions League, keeper Manuel Neuer, who has 17 caps for the national team, received high praise from none other than United coach Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ferguson said Manuel Neuer’s performance against Manchester United may be the finest he has come up against in his 25 years at the club.

United were dominant at Schalke in Tuesday’s semi-final first leg and produced a catalogue of clear-cut chances, but they were unable to beat Neuer during the first-half.…

Bayern Munich were downed by Inter Milan who become the first Italian team to win the treble of league, cup and European Cup in the same season, whilst ending the German double-winners’ hopes of doing likewise.

Diego Milito struck in the 34th and 70th minutes for Inter and Bayern were unable to find a way past the resolute Inter defence, ending the game down 2-0.

Click through for a detailed match report of the Champions League final.

All eyes will now turn towards the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, happening in 18 days’ time!…

Bayern Munich will travel to Madrid by helicopter if volcanic ash keeps them from flying by plane to the Champions League Final.

“Without trying to spread panic, we will make every arrangement and will be prepared,” a club spokesman said.

Some Spanish airports were closed today due to the return of the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland that paralysed air travel last month. Munich airport was also closed temporarily on Monday.…

Bayern Munich have lost their appeal to overturn Franck Ribery’s suspension in the Champions League, meaning he will miss the final against Inter on May 22 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Ribery received a straight red card for a foul on Lyon’s Lisandro Lopez in their first-leg semi-final clash at the Allianz Arena, resulting in a three-game ban.

Bayern were hoping to get that sentence reduced with an appeal to UEFA, but after a hearing today the suspension has been upheld by European football’s governing body.

Ribery has already served one match of his punishment, sitting out the second-leg against Lyon, which his side won 3-0.

The Bundesliga giants will now go on to lodge an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for Ribery’s ban to be lifted.…

Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi deservedly won the Champions League for Barcelona with a 2-0 win over Manchester United in Rome. Although United started well, it was Barca who dominated from their 10th minute opener before Messi put the game beyond doubt (70).

[Soccernet]…

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has assured coach Jurgen Klinsmann of his job, even if they follow the loss against Wolfsburg last weekend with defeat by Barcelona on Wednesday night.

Wolfsburg, managed by the former Bayern coach Felix Magath, trounced the defending champions 5-1 on Saturday to leave them in fourth position in the Bundesliga with eight games remaining.

That defeat turned up the pressure on Klinsmann, whose side have yet to make it to the top of the table all season and who has had a rough ride for his entire nine months in charge so far.

However, the Champions League has hitherto been his saving grace with Bayern commanding the best record of all the clubs in the competition so far with an unbeaten record.

But even if that were to end at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night, Klinsmann can sleep easily, according to Rummenigge.

“Nobody at FC Bayern is even contemplating such a scenario,” he said. “To say that if we get hammered there then the coach is gone is not the way we do things.”

Even if Bayern fail to win the Bundesliga this season, Rummenigge promises that Klinsmann will still be in charge next …

Bayern carried on where they left off two weeks ago, inflicting a record 12-1 aggregate defeat on Sporting Lisbon to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Leading 5-0 from the first leg, a double from Lukas Podolski and Anderson Polga’s own goal put them 3-0 up on the night within 40 minutes before Joao Moutinho pulled one back in stunning fashion.

It was the briefest respite for Sporting, though, Bastian Schweinsteiger hitting an immediate reply, before Mark van Bommel, Miroslav Klose (pen) and Thomas Muller netted in the second half.

The result was a record aggregate winning margin for a post-group stage Champions League game, surpassing Lyon’s 10-2 demolition of Werder Bremen in 2005.

The scoring began in the eighth minute, Podolski combining well with Ze Roberto on the edge of the box after Bayern took advantage of a poor defensive clearance before hammering home from the edge of the box.

Bayern were rampant and Klose came within inches of making it 2-0 after 19 minutes.

Some slick Bayern interplay on the edge of the box ended with Van Bommel firing goalwards, though his strike was beaten away by Rui Patricio.

Klose pounced on the rebound …