Munich: Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes will leave the club at the end of the season with his head held high whether they win the treble or not, he said on Monday.
"When a team like Bayern is playing at such a high standard the trainer can only leave by the front door regardless of whether we win the German Cup and the Champions League," he told a news conference ahead of Tuesday's semi-final first leg against Barcelona.
"Listen to what the German media say about my team. They say we are playing the most modern football in the history of Bayern."
The Bavarians won this season's Bundesliga title with six games to spare and also meet VfB Stuttgart in the German Cup final in Berlin on June 1.
The 67-year-old Heynckes, whose Bayern side were runners-up in the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League last season, will hand over the reins to former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola at the end of this campaign.
Bayern signed their deal with Guardiola in January and Heynckes has led his squad to 18 wins in the last 19 matches.
They have scored 55 goals in that run and conceded 11 despite fielding second-string teams in many games.
"I admire Pep Guardiola for his career as a coach and player and in addition we have a very good relationship," said Heynckes who again scorned suggestions he would ask the new coach for advice on how to tackle Barcelona.
"Once the draw was made the German press spoke about getting info from Pep and that is disrespectful to him and Barcelona. In addition I don't need information from him, I follow Spanish football, I know Barcelona as well as my own team."
Bayern will be without first-choice striker Mario Mandzukic on Tuesday due to suspension but, with the prolific Mario Gomez waiting in the wings, Heynckes was unruffled.
"Gomez's scoring ratio is approaching that of Gerd Mueller," he said referring to the former West Germany striker.
"There are so many different things we can do to prepare but spontaneity and intuition are very important in football. We had one strategy in the previous round against Juventus and we will have another against Barcelona."
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