Franz Beckenbauer has sought to clarify comments in which he suggested Barcelona would try "every trick in the book" to overturn a 4-0 first-leg deficit against Bayern Munich in their Champions League semifinal second leg on Wednesday.
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The honourary Bayern president, a former player and coach of Germany's most successful club, was quoted as saying in Monday's edition of Bild newspaper that Barca would "try everything to throw Bayern off balance".
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"They will deploy all methods, anything that's allowed and anything that's forbidden. They will defend themselves because their pride has been hurt," he added, according to Bild.
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Barca, mistakenly referring to the German daily as "Blind", published a statement from Beckenbauer later on Monday in which he apologised if he had been "misunderstood".
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"I only said that Barca will do what it can to get to the final, but not by illegal means," he said.
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"When I say they will use everything they have at their disposal I'm referring to putting pressure on their rival, something that's normal on the pitch, it's something that I used to do as a player and during my time as a manager.
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"Barca are one of the biggest and most honest clubs in the world and they have all my admiration.
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"I'm convinced that 'fair play' will preside over the match on Wednesday. The two teams will do everything possible to get to the final, and that's what I meant to say."
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Bayern, leading 1-0 at halftime, played a flawless second half against Barca – widely considered the best team of the past five years – to notch up another three goals and take a huge advantage into the second leg at the Nou Camp.
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"Barca will try to take Bayern's eyes off their game plan with one-on-one duels. The Bayern players should not be drawn into personal battles," the 67- year-old Beckenbauer, who won three consecutive European Cups with Bayern in the 1970s, told Bild.
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"They will not surrender, they will provoke, they will try all the tricks in the book," the paper quoted him as saying.
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Bayern, who have already won the Bundesliga and are in the German Cup final, are bidding for an unprecedented treble of titles for a German club.
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The Bavarians are also aiming for their third Champions League final in four seasons after losing the 2010 and 2012 finals to Inter Milan and Real Madrid respectively.