Bayern survive Wolfsburg

France playmaker Franck Ribery and Miroslav Klose scored to lead the home side to victory over Wolfsburg, with former Bayern coach Felix Magath in charge, and into the final on April 19 against Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern, who went into the game on a two-match losing streak, went ahead when Ribery caught up with a through ball from Germany striker Klose on the hour and beat Diego Benaglio with a crisp low shot between the Wolfsburg goalkeeper's legs.

Six minutes later an unmarked Klose tapped in from the right after Benaglio was only able to knock down a Lukas Podolski shot from the left, keeping alive Bayern's hopes of three titles this season in the German Cup, Bundesliga and UEFA Cup.

"We had a black day at Cottbus [on Saturday] and the team rehabilitated itself," Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, whose team lead the Bundesliga by five points over second-placed Hamburg, said.

"We knew we had to be on against Wolfsburg because they have a good team and quite deservedly have the best record in the Bundesliga since the winter break," added Hitzfeld, whose team are also in the UEFA Cup quarter-finals.

Magath, who was sacked by Bayern halfway through last season, has led Wolfsburg into the top half of the standings from the relegation zone this season. He said his team simply had too much respect for Bayern and the 62,000 spectators.

"We unfortunately had to work up our confidence before the match," said Magath. "We had too much respect for the great Bayern team in this huge stadium. After they got ahead it seemed no one believed we could win it anymore."

Dortmund beat second division Carl Zeiss Jena 3-0 in the first semi on Tuesday. Dortmund beat Bayern the last time the two teams met in the final in 1992, when Hitzfeld coached Dortmund.

Bayern have reached the Cup final 16 times and won the trophy 13 times.