MUNICH (Reuters) – Bayern Munich and Real Madrid will steer clear of the histrionics which have marred previous fixtures between the pair in the past, Jupp Heynckes, coach of the Bavarian side, said on Monday.

Bayern defender Philipp Lahm was also keen to emphasise that Bayern had respect for the La Liga leaders including their controversial Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

Bayern host Real on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, the first meeting between the sides for five years. Past matches have featured a variety of mud-slinging, tantrums and violence, something which Heynckes — himself a former Real Madrid coach — was keen to play down.

“Football has changed since those days,” he told reporters adding that dirty tricks had become less common as everything was captured on video.

“These days, there are so many cameras on the match…..I don’t have the feeling that the teams will go for it in a way that goes beyond the limits.

“In any case, we have a referee who will be there to control all of this.”

Bayern’s former president and captain Franz Beckenbauer once described Real coach Jose Mourinho as “rude and with no education”, but Heynckes refused to go down that road either.

MUNICH, April 16 (Reuters) – Bayern Munich and Real Madrid will steer clear of the histrionics which have marred previous fixtures between the pair in the past, Jupp Heynckes, coach of the Bavarian side, said on Monday.

Bayern defender Philipp Lahm was also keen to emphasise that Bayern had respect for the La Liga leaders including their controversial Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

Bayern host Real on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, the first meeting between the sides for five years. Past matches have featured a variety of mud-slinging, tantrums and violence, something which Heynckes – himself a former Real Madrid coach — was keen to play down.

“Football has changed since those days,” he told reporters adding that dirty tricks had become less common as everything was captured on video.

“These days, there are so many cameras on the match…..I don’t have the feeling that the teams will go for it in a way that goes beyond the limits.

“In any case, we have a referee who will be there to control all of this.”

Bayern’s former president and captain Franz Beckenbauer once described Real coach Jose Mourinho as “rude and with no education”, but Heynckes refused to go down that road either.

MUNICH (Reuters) – From Juanito stamping on Lothar Matthaeus’ head to an entire team storming off the pitch in a friendly, there is no love lost between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, who resume their bitter rivalry on Tuesday.

The luck of the draw has ensured a five-year truce between the two swaggering giants, who have been European champions 13 times between them.

But the peace will be shattered when they clash at the Allianz Arena in their Champions League semi-final first leg.

It will their fifth semi-final meeting in Europe’s top club competition and offers Real Madrid, well on course to win La Liga, the chance to bring Bayern’s season to a miserable conclusion.

The Bavarians have already seen their Bundesliga title challenge fizzle out and are now playing to keep alive their dream of playing the Champions League final in their own stadium.

There is an endless list of ingredients to spice up an encounter whose history of violence, slanging matches and red cards would not be out of place in South America.

Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes and forward Arjen Robben both have scores to settle, having left the Bernabeu through the back door after their spells at Real.

MUNICH, April 16 (Reuters) – From Juanito stamping on Lothar Matthaeus’ head to an entire team storming off the pitch in a friendly, there is no love lost between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, who resume their bitter rivalry on Tuesday.

The luck of the draw has ensured a five-year truce between the two swaggering giants, who have been European champions 13 times between them.

But the peace will be shattered when they clash at the Allianz Arena in their Champions League semi-final first leg.

It will their fifth semi-final meeting in Europe’s top club competition and offers Real Madrid, well on course to win La Liga, the chance to bring Bayern’s season to a miserable conclusion.

The Bavarians have already seen their Bundesliga title challenge fizzle out and are now playing to keep alive their dream of playing the Champions League final in their own stadium.

There is an endless list of ingredients to spice up an encounter whose history of violence, slanging matches and red cards would not be out of place in South America.

Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes and forward Arjen Robben both have scores to settle, having left the Bernabeu through the back door after their spells at Real.

BERNE (Reuters) – Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid overcame German opposition to reach the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday while fellow Spaniards Valencia joined them by demolishing AZ Alkmaar.

Sporting completed an all-Iberian line-up by knocking out Metalist Kharkiv, who missed a penalty in a 1-1 draw in Ukraine allowing the Portuguese side go through 3-2 on aggregate.

Athletic, Manchester United’s conquerors in the previous round, played more of the entertaining football which is a hallmark of their eccentric coach Marcelo Bielsa as they drew 2-2 at home to Schalke 04 to qualify 6-4 on aggregate.

Atletico Madrid won 2-1 at Hanover 96 with an 87th minute winner from Radamel Falcao, last season’s top scorer in the competition playing for champions Porto, to complete a 4-2 aggregate win.

Adil Rami scored two early goals to set Valencia on their way to a 4-0 victory over AZ Alkmaar as they comfortably overturned a first-leg deficit to win 5-2 on aggregate.

Spain also has Barcelona and Real Madrid in the last four of the Champions League and there is now a possibility that both European finals this season will be all-Spanish affairs.

Atletico Madrid face Valencia in the semi-finals while Athletic Bilbao, enjoying their best European campaign since reaching the final of the old UEFA Cup in 1977, play Sporting.

BERNE, April 5 (Reuters) – Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid overcame German opposition to reach the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday while fellow Spaniards Valencia joined them by demolishing AZ Alkmaar.

Sporting completed an all-Iberian lineup by knocking out Metalist Kharkiv, who missed a penalty in a 1-1 draw in Ukraine allowing the Portuguese side go through 3-2 on aggregate.

Athletic, Manchester United’s conquerors in the previous round, played more of the entertaining football which is a hallmark of their eccentric coach Marcelo Bielsa as they drew 2-2 at home to Schalke 04 to qualify 6-4 on aggregate.

Atletico Madrid won 2-1 at Hanover 96 with an 87th minute winner from Radamel Falcao, last season’s top scorer in the competition playing for champions Porto, to complete a 4-2 aggregate win.

Adil Rami scored two early goals to set Valencia on their way to a 4-0 victory over AZ Alkmaar as they comfortably overturned a first-leg deficit to win 5-2 on aggregate.

Spain also has Barcelona and Real Madrid in the last four of the Champions League and there is now a possibility that both European finals this season will be all-Spanish affairs.

Atletico Madrid face Valencia in the semi-finals while Athletic Bilbao, enjoying their best European campaign since reaching the final of the old UEFA Cup in 1977, play Sporting.

ZURICH (Reuters) – FIFA’s long-awaited reforms quickly came under fire on Friday and soccer’s governing body also risked igniting a new conflict with clubs by forcing them to release players for the Olympic Games.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter proudly announced that his executive had approved proposals to strengthen the ethics committee, which investigates wrong-doing within soccer’s corruption-plagued governing body.

Other reforms suggested by Mark Pieth, a Swiss professor called in to head FIFA’s newly-created independent governance panel, were put on hold for at least a year, sparking criticism from anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International.

There were a myriad of other announcements from the two-day executive committee meeting, including a warning for Indonesia over its breakaway league and a move to smooth South Sudan’s acceptance as a FIFA member.

FIFA also announced a $36 million profit for 2011 on revenues of $1.07 billion and said “cooling breaks” had been approved for matches in hot and humid conditions, considered to be over 31 Celsius.

Blatter hailed “an historic day for FIFA’s reform process” after his unanimous approval for plans to split the ethics committee in investigative and judicial chambers, a move which still needs to be passed by FIFA’s Congress.

He said the newly reformed committee would also be responsible for vetting candidates within FIFA and would be able to instigate investigations of its own initiative.

ZURICH, March 30 (Reuters) – FIFA’s long-awaited reforms quickly came under fire on Friday and soccer’s governing body also risked igniting a new conflict with clubs by forcing them to release players for the Olympic Games.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter proudly announced that his executive had approved proposals to strengthen the ethics committee, which investigates wrong-doing within soccer’s corruption-plagued governing body.

Other reforms suggested by Mark Pieth, a Swiss professor called in to head FIFA’s newly-created independent governance panel, were put on hold for at least a year, sparking criticism from anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International.

There were a myriad of other announcements from the two-day executive committee meeting, including a warning for Indonesia over its breakaway league and a move to smooth South Sudan’s acceptance as a FIFA member.

FIFA also announced a $36 million profit for 2011 on revenues of $1.07 billion and said “cooling breaks” had been approved for matches in hot and humid conditions, considered to be over 31 Celsius.

Blatter hailed “an historic day for FIFA’s reform process” after his unanimous approval for plans to split the ethics committee in investigative and judicial chambers, a move which still needs to be passed by FIFA’s Congress.

He said the newly reformed committee would also be responsible for vetting candidates within FIFA and would be able to instigate investigations of its own initiative.

ZURICH (Reuters) – FIFA has ordered clubs to release Under-23 players called up by their national teams for the Olympic Games soccer tournament.

The move, approved by the executive committee of world soccer’s governing body on Friday, is potentially controversial as the competition is not part of the international match calendar and clubs already believe they are asked to release their players too often.

However, the executive committee softened the blow by agreeing to proposals from European clubs to reduce the number of international matches and set up an insurance scheme to compensate clubs when their players are injured playing for their countries.

“The executive decided that the release of under-23 players by the clubs shall be compulsory,” FIFA said in a statement.

The 2008 Olympic soccer tournament was marked by a tug-of-war between Barcelona and Argentina over the release of Lionel Messi, which went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

CAS ruled in Barcelona’s favour but the Catalan club then decided to release him in any case and Argentina went on to win the tournament.

The Olympic soccer tournament, which clashes with the European pre-season, is restricted to Under-23 players although each team can field up to three over-age players.

ZURICH, March 30 (Reuters) – FIFA has ordered clubs to release Under-23 players called up by their national teams for the Olympic Games soccer tournament.

The move, approved by the executive committee of world soccer’s governing body on Friday, is potentially controversial as the competition is not part of the international match calendar and clubs already believe they are asked to release their players too often.

However, the executive committee softened the blow by agreeing to proposals from European clubs to reduce the number of international matches and set up an insurance scheme to compensate clubs when their players are injured playing for their countries.

“The executive decided that the release of under-23 players by the clubs shall be compulsory,” FIFA said in a statement.

The 2008 Olympic soccer tournament was marked by a tug-of-war between Barcelona and Argentina over the release of Lionel Messi, which went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

CAS ruled in Barcelona’s favour but the Catalan club then decided to release him in any case and Argentina went on to win the tournament.

The Olympic soccer tournament, which clashes with the European pre-season, is restricted to Under-23 players although each team can field up to three over-age players.