I'm Out For Revenge

Feb 10 2008 By Gavin Berry

Mark Van Bommel Exclusive Jimmy Turned Me Over In Dutch Game Gers Blitzed Us On Last Trip To Scotland; Aberdeen V Bayern Munich Thursday, Kick-Off 6pm Live Bbc 2

BAYERN MUNICH star Mark van Bommel will be out for a double dose of revenge when he takes on Jimmy Calderwood's Aberdeen on Thursday.

The Dutch midfielder's last match against the Dons boss ended in defeat when Calderwood led NEC Nijmegen to victory against van Bommel's PSV Eindhoven.

And the 30-year-old is still smarting from a 4-1 Champions League hammering by Rangers on his last visit to Scotland.

But van Bommel will have the chance to exorcise those demons when his Bayern side face Caldo's Dons in the first leg of their UEFA Cup last-32 showdown at Pittodrie.

The Dutchman knows all about Calderwood fromthe Aberdeen gaffer's time as a player and manager inHolland.

And he's desperate to make up for their last meeting when PSV went down 2-1 away to NEC in 1999 - one of Calderwood's last games before moving to Scotland to take charge at Dunfermline.

Speaking to MailSport at Bayern's training ground van Bommel said: "I knowall about Jimmy and don't like to admit he beat me the last time.

"He was the trainer of NEC and Willem II before that. So I played against his teams with Fortuna Sittard and once when I joined PSV.

"Maybe this week it can be my turn to get the victory. Jimmy is a good coach who wants to play football. I have a lot of admiration for him and it's no surprise he has been a success in Scotland.

"He has a good football philosophy and it was rumoured he had chances to go to bigger clubs in Holland. I don't know if the stories were 100 per cent true.

"Jimmy didn't manage one of the biggest Dutch clubs but always gave the likes of Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV difficult games. I'msure that will be the case for Bayern at Pittodrie.

"I'm not sure if he could have gone to one of the big three in Holland. Although he speaks Dutch I'm not sure if they look for foreign coaches.

"Jimmy will remember me when he checks out the Bayern squad and it will be nice to play against him again.

"Aberdeen also have some Dutch players like Jeffrey de Visscher and Dave Bus. But the one I know best is Karim Touzani.

I faced him a couple of times when PSV played Utrecht."

Van Bommel is also desperate to make amends for that crushing defeat at Ibrox nine years ago. PSV were blown away by Dick Advocaat's Gers side and the pain still cuts deep for the talented midfielder.

Van Bommel said: "The last time I was in Scotland was for that game against Rangers.

"I'm hoping to leave with better memories this time.

"Rangers played really good football at that time and had a big Dutch influence.

"I spoke to the likes of Arthur Numan back then and also played with Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Barcelona.

"So I know all about Scottish football and what the Dutch lads achieved at Ibrox.

"Bert Konter man, Fernando Ricksen, Michael Mols and Ronald Waterreus also had spells at Rangers and I now see it as a Dutch club.

"I even remember the fans wearing orange for the 2000 Scottish Cup final as a tribute to the Dutch influence.

"I took more of an interest in Scottish football then and when Old Firm matches were on I tried my best to watch them on TV.

"But the game in Scotland is improving and not only in the last two years.

"Rangers won home and away against PSV when I was there and you can see the national team is also improving.

"Scotland were unlucky not to qualify for Euro 2008 and that earned them a lot of respect."

Van Bommel knows there's more to Scottish football than just the Old Firm - mainly thanks to old PSV team-mate Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

The Celtic striker is still a close pal and big Jan keeps the midfielder up to date with what's happening in the SPL.

That's why van Bommel won't be taking Aberdeen lightly as Bayern chase glory on three fronts in the second half of the season.

He said: "People only talk about the Old Firm in Scotland but I remember Dundee United playing Vitesse Arnhem in 1990.

"I also know other clubs such as Hearts and Motherwell and of course Aberdeen.

"I am friendly with Vennegoor of Hesselink and he's always telling me the level isn't as bad as some people outside of Scotland think.

"I played with Jan for four years at PSV and we text each other now and again.

"He's a good player, a good striker. I know he's not the quickest or technical like Henrik Larsson. But he's clever and scores - that's why he's a striker.

"You could see that on Wednesday night when he netted the third goal in Holland's friendly win over Croatia.

"Then again, that was a really easy goal for him.

"Seriously, though, that is the main thing for us in these two games against Aberdeen. We can't underestimate our opponents because we know there is quality other than Rangers and Celtic.

"We want to win titles at Bayern but in Europe it's hard.

"We've had a bit of luck with the draw as we play away from home first which is an advantage.

"But in cup competitions it comes down to what you do on the day. How will you be? Can you reach your peak? You only have two games to beat a team.

"At least in the league you have 34 matches but we have a good squad at Bayern.

"It's even better than last year and we're hopeful of doing well in all competitions.

"I played a lot of games in the UEFA Cup with PSV and it's a good competition. But I've never gone further than the quarters so maybe I can do that this season.

"One yearwe lost to Feyenoord in the last eight but we would have faced Rangers had they beaten Feyenoord in the previous round.

"The year before we lost to Kaiserslautern and on another occasion we went out to Newcastle United.

"I want to put that right this season but we'll have to beat Aberdeen. Maybe that will be another score I can settle."