A war of words has broken out between rival Bundesliga coaches Jupp Heynckes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund's Jurgen Klopp after the latter accused the former of copying his coaching ideas.

Dortmund have won the last two Bundesliga titles, but are second and 17

points behind leaders Bayern in the current campaign, having also lost 1-0 in Munich on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the German Cup.

Klopp went on the offensive after the defeat when he accused Bayern of copying his team's playing style.

"At the moment, it is like what the Chinese are doing in industry: they look at what others do, copy them, and then with more money and players follow a similar path. And then after that, you're better again."

Relations between Klopp and Heynckes have been cordial for the last two seasons, but Heynckes was clearly irritated by his Dortmund counterpart.

"Bayern have been round a bit longer than Jurgen Klopp has been a coach and we have always had our own style of play," said the 67-year-old.

"It's important to show how big you are in both defeat and victory," he added after Bayern broke their six-match winless streak in the cup game against Dortmund.

But Borussia's chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke backed up Klopp.

"Bayern Munich is certainly not a club who have to tell us how to show grace in defeat, because they themselves have not always had a monopoly on that department," he told SID, an AFP subsidiary.

"What Jurgen Klopp has said is absolutely correct. Dortmund certainly don't need to take a lecture from Bayern."

But Heynckes, who won the Champions League title as Real Madrid coach in 1998, said Klopp, who is 22 years his junior, should change his tune.