Bundesliga Preview: Beleaguered Bayern Munich host in-form Borussia Dortmund
A game that needs no introduction. The first Der Klassiker of the season is upon and it’s up to Lucien Favre and his men to create some cushion between them and their arch-rivals.
With just a point separating the two sides neither one of them would take anything less than a victory especially considering the neck to neck race at the top of the Bundesliga. One of the main questions on everyone’s mind is how will Bayern Munich fare with the recent sacking of Niko Kovac? Despite a change in management, the Bavarians are still a force to be reckoned with and Favre’s approach to the game will be crucial for Borussia Dortmund’s success.
Match Information
Location: Allianz Arena, Munich
Date: 09/11/2019
Time: 6:30pm CEST| 5:30pm BST| 12:30pm ET
Recent Form
Bayern Munich
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The 5-1 defeat to Frankfurt was the last straw for Uli Hoeneß and the Bayern board which saw Niko Kovac relieved of his duties. Despite that one slip up, Bayern Munich have only just dropped points once in the past five games. Fair to say that they are not at their best but they always give Dortmund a run for their money when it comes to Der Klassiker. In their first game without Niko Kovac, the Bavarians cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory of Olympiacos in the Champions League which sealed their place in the round of 16.
Borussia Dortmund
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The poor performances and lack of decent results seems to be finally fading away as the Black and Yellows picked up their 3rd victory in a row following a sensational comeback against Inter Milan in the midweek fixture. A stunning second-half performance saw Dortmund overturn a 2-0 deficit thanks to the heroics of Achraf Hakimi. While the defence has moderately improved it is still not where it should be if Dortmund want to challenge for the title race. The Black and Yellows are still going into the fixture with plenty of momentum and have to capitalize on an unstable Bayern Munich squad.
Team News
The Bayern Munich defence seems to have crumbled but not entirely destroyed. Niklas Sule and Lucas Hernandez are both out with an injury while veteran Jerome Boateng is serving a suspension following a red card in Frankfurt’s 5-1 thumping. But despite their current crisis, the Bavarians still managed to keep a clean sheet in their Champions League game against Olympiacos. Alphonso Davies and Benjamin Pavard held the full-back positions, while Javi Martinez and David Alaba were the two centre backs.
Borussia Dortmund have received a double boost with Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho passed fit to travel with the squad to Munich. Paco Alcacer will likely start over Mario Gotze since he is now fully fit and recorded an assist with his first touch after coming on against Inter Milan.
Opposition star man: Robert Lewandowski
Every time I make this preview there is only one thing that is for certain. Robert Lewandowski being the star man. Now more than ever Dortmund need to keep him at bay as he is simply scoring goals for fun at the moment. With 21 goals in 17 games, there is absolutely no doubt that he has been Bayern’s saving grace this season. He has also been Borussia Dortmund worst nightmare in recent years having scored 16 Der Klassiker goals with 15 for Bayern and 1 for Dortmund.
Mats Hummels and Manuel Akanji are going to have a busy shift keeping one of the best players in Europe right now out of their goal.
Previous match: Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Bayern Munich
Jadon Sancho was the hero for Dortmund as he provided a goal and an assist leading Der BVB to their first piece of silverware for the season when the two sides met in August. After an end to end first half it was the quick feet of Sancho which took almost 3 Bayern players out of the game, then teeing it up for the clinical Paco Alcacer who slotted it into the bottom corner. Bayern Munich almost equalised after a cross from Joshua Kimmich found Coman and was denied by Hitz. The ball was inches away from the goal-line until cleared by Omer Toprak.
With almost 20 minutes left to play that man again, Jadon Sancho led the counter-attack after a pass from Raphael Guerreiro. Sancho took it all the way and put it past Neuer to make it 2-0 ultimately killing the game. It was sweet revenge following the 5-0 thumping in the final edition of last year Der Klassiker which put a major dent in Dortmund’s title hopes. The Black and Yellows will be hoping to repeat the Super Cup heroics but will be without their key man.
Possible lineups:
Bayern Munich: Neuer (c) – Pavard, Martinez, Alaba, Davies – Kimmich, Goretzka – Gnabry, Müller, Coman – Lewandowski
Borussia Dortmund: Bürki – Piszczek (c), Akanji, Hummels, Schulz – Witsel, Weigl – Hakimi, Brandt, Hazard – Alcacer
Next. How Borussia Dortmund can beat Bayern Munich this weekend. dark