James Rodriguez Insists Bayern Munich Must 'Look to Win' Champions League This Season

Bayern Munich midfielder James Rodriguez has insisted his side must be looking to win the Champions League this season after previous shortcomings.

Bayern, with the help of Rodriguez, dominated the Bundesliga once again during the 2017/18 campaign, but they ultimately fell wide of the mark in the Champions League - something which has been a recurring theme over the past few seasons. 

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Between 2014 and 2016 under Pep Guardiola, Bayern were knocked out of the Champions League at the semi-final stage, before losing in the last eight in 2017 under Carlo Ancelotti and again in the last four in 2018 under Jupp Heynckes. They were defeated by Real Madrid last season, a significant encounter for Rodriguez as he came up against his parent club.

Bayern are the run away favourites to life their seventh straight Bundesliga title this season but, in the opinion of Rodriguez, the Bavarians should not be limiting themselves to just domestic success this season.

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“The Champions League is a very difficult competition but a club like Bayern Munich must be looking to win it,” the Colombian told reporters at an Adidas event in Berlin, as per the Bundesliga website.

“No matter who the opponent is, we always have to play for victory. We always have to try to be successful."

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Bayern will first be concentrating their efforts on getting out of a potentially tricky Champions League group which features Benfica, Ajax and AEK Athens. Their opening match is against Benfica on 19 September and Rodriguez and co will no doubt be desperate to get their European campaign off to a flying start.