Van Gaal called Bayern a "dream club" when he joined in July 2009

Champions League semi-final first leg: Lyon v Bayern Munich
Venue: Stade de Gerland Date: Tuesday 27 April Kick-off: 1945 BST
Coverage: Coverage on BBC Sport website and BBC Radio 5 live and live TV coverage on Sky Sports

By Drew Christie

It is 15 years since Bayern Munich manager Louis van Gaal got his hands on the Champions League trophy for the first and so far only time.

That golden moment came when Ajax, the team he led to both European and domestic glory during a heady seven-year tenure, beat AC Milan 1-0 thanks to an 85th-minute goal from Patrick Kluivert.

On Tuesday, the 58-year-old Van Gaal will move a step closer to reliving those glory years of the 1990s if his Bundesliga leaders see off Lyon in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final.

Bayern - or FC Hollywood as the club is sometimes known due to their habit of dominating the back as well the front pages of German newspapers - have made no secret of their desire to to become kings of Europe for the fifth time since 1974.

He's come here with a very good reputation and he's doing it his way... the players can see that and feel that, and the players have to keep themselves in line Tony Woodcock on Van Gaal

The club could win silverware on two other fronts as they head the Bundesliga and have a date with Werder Bremen in the German Cup final on 15 May, but winning European football's showpiece event a week later is the primary goal.

"General manager Uli Hoeness makes no secret in saying that Bayern want to win the Champions League," former England and Arsenal striker Tony Woodcock told BBC Sport.

"He's not concerned if they win the Bundesliga 10 times on the trot. He wants to be successful in Europe. That's what he wants, for them to be top of the tree."

Woodcock, a veteran observer of German football since breaking transfer records when he signed for Cologne for £500,000 in 1979, believes that, in Van Gaal, Bayern have the man to achieve that goal.

"Bayern are a top European club, one of the best run clubs on and off the field that I've seen in professional football," he said. "And you need a big-time manager who can handle big-time players."

That ability to handle star players was displayed in the first leg victory against Lyon after the architect of their run, Arjen Robben, stormed off after being substituted. Rather than trying to placate his countryman, Van Gaal let him know in no uncertain terms that his behaviour was unacceptable.

Van Gaal takes Robben to task during the first leg against Lyon

"He's come here with a very good reputation and he's doing it his way," added Woodcock. "The players can see that and feel that, and the players have to keep themselves in line."

Should Van Gaal guide Bayern to a second Champions League success - they won the competition in 2001 after clinching the European Cup in 1974, 1975 and 1976 - it would spell a remarkable turnaround for a manager whose best times looked behind him just two years ago.

By then he had spent two spells in charge of Barcelona, winning two La Liga titles, and failed to guide the Netherlands to the 2002 World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan.

It was after a second troubled stint at the Nou Camp and a brief but unsuccessful spell as Ajax technical director that he became manager of AZ Alkmaar in 2007, guiding the unfashionable Dutch club to an underwhelming 11th place in the Eredivisie.

Urged to stay on by AZ's players after offering his resignation, the former Sparta Rotterdam player bounced back in stunning style, winning the championship for the first time since 1981.

Bayern Munich then came calling in July 2009 and their faith has been amply repaid.

They now stand a game away from a place in the Champions League final, holding a 1-0 lead from the first leg at the Allianz Arena, and Woodcock insists the big time is coming.

"If they do go on to win it, then I'm sure they're going to be in the market for some top-class international players over the next couple of years," said the former striker, who won the European Cup with Nottingham Forest in 1979.

"The Premier League, Italy and Spain have been getting the main crop of the world's best players over the last few years, but if Bayern get the little bit of success they've been wanting then they'll be in the market as much as your bigger clubs like Real Madrid, Manchester United, Arsenal."

It has not been all plain sailing for Van Gaal, though.

Van Gaal won the Champions League with Ajax in 1995

Bayern were initially off the pace in the Bundesliga before a key win over Eintracht Frankfurt in October - defender Daniel van Buyten scored the winner after being pushed into attack by Van Gaal - kickstarted their title push.

Bayern also made hard work of escaping their Champions League group after losing twice to Bordeaux, with Van Gaal's side only qualifying for the knockout stages by beating Juventus 4-1 in Turin.

And after going 3-0 down in the first half of their second-leg quarter-final tie against Manchester United they looked to be on their way out, before an Ivica Olic strike and stunning volley by Robben sealed their progress to the last four.

Woodcock points out that Bayern, despite the FC Hollywood moniker, are that rarity in modern football in that the club's powerbrokers are ex-footballers rather than businessmen.

"Their strength is that they have people from a football background - [Germany internationals] Franz Beckenbauer, Uli Hoeness, Gerd Muller and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge - who've played the game at the highest level and know what they want.

"They really want to push the history of Bayern Munich to the public, to Europe, to the world. They want success and they want to be top of the tree."

First, they must see off Lyon - and they must do that without Ribery, who is suspended after being red-carded during the first leg for a foul on defender Cris.

Woodcock insists Franck Ribery's absence should not be a telling factor.

"Bayern have got a good squad," said the ex-England international.

"I'm sure they're going to compensate for Ribery in some form. Of course, it would be great to have Ribery, but if that's not the case they are still going to go out there and give it their all."

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