Ex-Real boss Bernd Schuster slams "dreary" Bayern

Berlin: Former Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster has branded holders Bayern Munich "uninspired and dreary" ahead of their Champions League semi-final clash with the Spanish giants in a little over a fortnight.

"What Bayern have recently offered in the Bundesliga and against Manchester United was uninspired and so dreary," Schuster, who coached Real from 1988-1990, told German daily Bild. European champions Bayern won this season`s Bundesliga title with a record seven games to spare last month and beat United 3-1 on Wednesday in the Champions League quarter-final, second leg tie to progress 4-2 on aggregate. Bayern will face Real at Madrid`s Bernabeu stadium on April 23 with the second-leg at Munich`s Allianz Arena on April 29. Schuster said the absence of Bayern`s play-maker Thiago Alcantara through injury has weakened their passing game and the 54-year-old rates Munich`s chances as "50-50" against Madrid. Bayern are too reliant on their short-passing game, according to Schuster. "When it works, everything is wonderful, but woeful when it doesn`t," said the German. The key battle when Bayern face Madrid will be in midfield, according to Schuster, with the likes of Germany`s Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Goetze and Thomas Mueller up against Real`s Cristiano Ronaldo, Xabi Alonso and Gareth Bale.