Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has responded swiftly to comments from Bayern Munich chairman Franz Beckenbauer, only hours before their UEFA Champions League meeting on Tuesday. Beckenbauer had earlier stated that Real Madrid would suffer a lot in the second-leg of the competition's round of 16 at Allianz Arena; a comment seemed to be too provocative for Casillas. "Maybe because their new stadium has a very similar style to (Real's venue) Bernabeu, anyway, before we suffer, they'll have to do it here before," Casillas told Spanish daily Marca on Tuesday. The 26-year-old shot stopper has also denied rivalry with Bayern's veteran keeper Oliver Kahn since the latter refused to exchange shirts with him after an international friendly in Mallorca four years ago.
Kahn "It was a stupidity! Not from him, but the press! I asked for his shirt and he refused, nothing happened then." Casillas contradicts critics who believe that Kahn has become far from his best. "If a keeper was once at his best, then he commits three or four errors, they immediately say he had passed his moment, but for me he is still physically the same." Casillas, who is Spain's number one, has won two Spanish Liga titles and two Champions League trophies with Real Madrid.
