CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Bayern Munich v Real Madrid: Venue: Allianz Arena, Kick-off: Tonight, 7.45pm, On TV: TV3, Sky Sports 2:REAL MADRID, often criticised for harassing and criticising match officials, always want to co-operate with referees and try to make their lives easier, coach Jose Mourinho said yesterday. Forced to break a media silence by Champions League rules, Mourinho was keen to remind his listeners Real had reached the last four twice in a row under his leadership, breaking a sequence of early exits before he arrived.

A frequent critic of referees, Mourinho said he had no special concerns at the appointment for Englishman Howard Webb for tonight’s Champions League semi-final first leg at Bayern Munich. “Real Madrid have good relations with all referees,” he said, giving typically laconic answers.

“We hope they do their job their well and the Real Madrid players, as always, will try to help the referee do his work calmly, hoping that their decisions are right. But we know they can make mistakes and those mistakes can decide who gets the three points,” added Mourinho, who generally avoids news conferences in La Liga.

Mourinho then had a snipe at Bayern’s array of officials, former players and coaches who had all expressed confidence in a win for the Bavarians. “You hear or read top-of-the-line people such as Franz Beckenbauer, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge,” he said. “They are all of the same opinion that Real Madrid are not a good team and they are favourites and that we have some sort of complex,” he said with a clear dose of sarcasm. “So, yes, I think we are the ones who are outsiders. Bayern are a very good team with a fantastic coach, very good players and it’s a very strong institution, big football club with big institutional power.”

Real fell at the last-16 stage for six seasons in a row before Mourinho arrived at the Bernabeu. “We have the extra motivation of playing in the semi-finals for the second successive season,” he said.

“Real Madrid has not got to this stage for a long time and, in two seasons, we have got to two semi-finals with one loss in 22 games, and that is a game which has a story,” he added, referring to last season’s semi-final first leg defeat at home to Barcelona. He said he had no concerns about his team. “I have no doubts for tomorrow, I know who is playing, who is going to be on the bench and who will be in the stands, it’s one of the games in which I don’t have any doubt. I have thought so much about it and worked so hard for it I have no absolutely no doubt.”

Mourinho has called up a full squad of 24 players for the trip to Germany, including the Germany internationals Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil along with former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin. Former Bayern midfielder Hamit Altintop is also part of the party.

Mourinho was dismissive of Real’s achievement in equalling the club’s Spanish record of 107 goals scored in a season, a feat they achieved at the weekend. “They are numbers which have no meaning. They are historic numbers and history does not count tomorrow.”

Having answered questions in Spanish, English and Italian, the Portuguese coach said the German language would prevent him from ever working in the Bundesliga. “I don’t work in a country where I need this,” he said, tapping his earphones. “Communication is important and the German language is one over which I have no grasp. It’s very difficult for me.”

Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes urged his players to take advantage of the “once in a lifetime” opportunity to play a Champions League final on home soil at the Allianz Arena. He believes the fact the final will be held in Munich provides his players with even more incentive against Mourinho’s men. “It is certainly a very special motivation that the final takes place in the Allianz Arena,” he said. “This is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

With Bayern all but mathematically out of the running for the Bundesliga title, victory in Europe is now their main priority.

Tonight’s match will be an even more special occasion for Heynckes, who led Real to glory in the 1998 Champions League and spent eight years coaching in Spain. Bayern captain Philipp Lahm says he and his team-mates are fully focused on becoming the first side to play in a “home” Champions League final. “Bayern are in the semi-finals of the Champions League and we will never lose our hunger for titles,” he said.

Bastian Schweinsteiger is Heynckes’s only doubt since he has yet to reach top condition after two recent injuries.