Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking has said he "was never a fan" of Bayern Munich ahead of the eagerly anticipated Bundesliga meeting between the teams on Tuesday.
Hecking led Wolfsburg to second place in the Bundesliga behind Bayern last term, a highlight of their season coming in the form of a 4-1 home thumping of the champions.
That stunning victory was followed up with a penalty shootout triumph over the Bavarian giants in last month's DFL Super Cup.
A 2006 win while in charge of Hannover marks Hecking's only triumph away to Bayern but his antipathy towards a club for which he concedes a grudging respect stems from his in the upbringing in the Ruhr area – more than 600 miles north-west of the Bavarian capital.
"I was never a fan of Bayern," he said in an interview with Kicker. "What has been created there is outstanding, however, and has my greatest respect.
"There are stadiums in which the atmosphere excites me more.
"That I do not like to go to Munich is not because of my record there, but due to my lack of proximity. I come from the Ruhr area - one has different preferences."
Wolfsburg head into the match four points behind joint-leaders Bayern after Bas Dost came off the bench to net a decisive brace in the 2-0 win over Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
Hecking revealed that the Dutch striker was left out due to a perceived poor reaction to being substituted against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League and added that he is not guaranteed a return to the starting XI.
"If somebody strolls around for three days as if somebody has taken his toy away then he's got to reconsider his attitude towards the rest of the team," Hecking said.
"If he thinks that is the right way, then he's in the wrong place in Wolfsburg.''
