BERLIN — Pep Guardiola does not plan to make major changes once he takes charge of Bayern Munich on July 1, according to club president Uli Hoeness. The 42-year-old ex-Barcelona manager will succeed current head coach Jupp Heynckes with a contract until 2016, but is not expected to overhaul the Bavarian giant's squad, says Hoeness. “As I understand him, he is also of the opinion that our team does not need to be reinforced with lots of players — he wants to work with the current squad, he likes it,” Hoeness told German Sky Sports. Guardiola, who won 14 titles in four years at Barcelona, has been watching Bayern intensively since August and has been learning German since November, Hoeness revealed. Hoeness said it was in July 2011 when he first personally heard Guardiola say he might be interested in coaching Bayern, during a pre-season tournament, at the Allianz Arena, when Barcelona enjoyed a 2-0 win over Munich. “He said: ‘I can imagine working for Bayern', I'll never forget it,” said Hoeness. Heynckes, who turns 68 in May, was told last September that the club were in talks with Guardiola, said Hoeness. “The Bundesliga will benefit from a global perspective” Reinhard Rauball, the boss of the German Football League (DFL), told magazine Focus. “One can only congratulate Bayern for attracting a coaching expert like Guardiola, especially after the interest of Italian and English clubs, it just shows the strength of German football,” said Dortmund sports director Michael Zorc. Mourinho, Ronaldo spat won't affect morale: Albiol The row between star striker Cristiano Ronaldo and under-pressure Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho this week will not affect morale at the club, defender Raul Albiol said Saturday. Ronaldo became the latest Real player to be targeted by Mourinho when the coach reproached him following the side's unimpressive 2-0 Spanish Cup quarterfinal first leg win over Valencia Tuesday. According to an account published by the well-informed sports daily Marca, Mourinho accused Ronaldo in front of his teammates of having gone into hiding in the final quarter-of-an-hour. Ronaldo, who earlier in the season said he was unhappy but has since said he will see out his contract, retorted by telling his Portuguese compatriot he was being ungrateful and that ‘I killed myself out there, it is not fair that you criticize me'. Albiol said that it would be quickly forgotten. — Agencies
