Bayern München Blitz

Bundesliga : SC Freiburg vs Bayern Munich

Match Preview :

In my view, Christian Streich’s Freiburg always presents a formidable opponent to any Bundesliga side. That being said, Bayern wouldn’t be taking Freiburg lightly who, are sit just two points behind Bayern on 25. Freiburg’s stingy defense and hitting on the counters provides recipe to stifle the Bavarians. The Bavarians have a length list of injuries, with some good news as Tolisso returned to first team training.

Injuries and Suspensions :

Niklas Sule – ACL
Lucas Hernandez – Ankle
Kingsley Coman – Knee
Jann Fiete Arp – Foot
Mickael Cuisance – Foot

Predicted Lineups :

Jerome Boateng is expected to sit this one out after his horror show against Bremen. Javi Martinez will replace him at centre back. Philippe Coutinho , Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry are all expected to start along with our shining star Alphonso Davies and David Alaba. Manuel Neuer will be in the goal.

It is interesting to see if Pavard plays at RB or CB, which will effect Kimmich’s position. If Pavard is deployed at CB, expect a midfield pivot of Thiago and Goretzka, with Thomas Muller in the advanceed position. If he’s deployed at RB, Joshua Kimmich is expected to take on the CDM duties and one of Goretzka or Thiago could be benched.

Prediction :

SC Freiburg 1 – 3 Bayern Munich

Match Details :

The match will be played at 01.30 IST on Thursday, 18 December at Schwarzwald-Stadion, Freiburg.

Player Ratings : Bayern Munich vs Werder Bremen

Match Report :

This was perhaps Philippe Coutinho‘s best game in a Bayern Munich shirt. With 3 goals and 2 assists, the Brazilian magician certainly takes home the match ball.

Bayern started the game strong, but then fell to a counter attack which resulted due to really poor defending by Jerome Boateng and he was duly subbed off by Hansi Flick.

Goals by Coutinho and Lewy just before half-time proved crucial as it gave momentum to Bayern heading into the second half. As we all know, the second-half was a goal fest with Coutinho leading the charge. After Thomas Muller was subbed in for Leon Goretzka on 70′, der Raumdeuter got to doing what he does best, assisting and scoring goals in the next five minutes. The goal fest ended after Philippe Coutinho scored a truly magical goal, which reminded me of his Liverpool days.

Player Ratings : Starting XI

Manuel Neuer – 6
Benjamin Pavard – 6
Jerome Boateng – 5
David Alaba – 7
Alphonso Davies – 6
Joshua Kimmich – 8
Leon Goretzka – 6
Thiago Alcantara – 7
Serge Gnabry – 7
Philippe Coutinho – 9
Robert Lewandowski – 9

Substitutes :

Ivan Perisic – 7
Thomas Muller – 8
Sarpreet Singh – N/A

Bundesliga : Bayern Munich vs Werder Bremen

Injuries , Suspensions –

Niklas Sule – ACL
Lucas Hernandez – Ankle
Jann Fiete-Arp – Foot
Kingsley Coman – Knee
Corentin Tolisso – Thigh Issue
Javi Martinez – Suspended

Predicted Lineups

Since we have both our main center backs out of action until the new year, expect a back four of Davies, Alaba, Boateng and Pavard. There should be no surprises here.

In the midfield, expect Thiago to be given a rest after his shaky performance against Tottenham, and the centre midfield pairing will be Joshua Kimmich along with his German compatriot Leon Goretzka.

Ivan Perisic and Serge Gnabry are expected to start alongside Robert Lewandowski, with Muller in behind as second striker. It will be interesting if Coutinho is deployed on the wing instead of Perisic.

Result Prediction

Bayern Munich 4 – 1 Werder Bremen

Match Details

The game will be played at the Allianz Arena from 20:00 IST on Saturday, 14 December 2019.

Hansi Flick, Tactics and More

Its undeniable that we’ve seen a different Bayern Munich side since Niko Kovac departed. There has been good pressing throughout the game, plenty of rotations and the meteoric rise of Alphonso Davies. Well, now I’m certainly feeling bad for trash talking about Brazzo, because apart from the Callum Hudson-Odoi transfer saga going south, he’s done a commendable job.

The bright sport in our defensive injury crisis : Phonzieee !!

The first 4 games under Flick were the dream start for any manager. 16 goals scored, none conceded. It was certainly dreamland. Then, we saw the aftereffects of such a high pressing system and Bayern’s finishing gods deserted them for two games in a row , both of which ended 2-1 with Bayern on the losing side. The situation in the Bundesliga couldn’t be any worse with Bayern sitting seventh, 7 points behind league leaders Gladbach and 6 points behind second-placed RB Leipzig. Honestly, if you ask me I couldn’t care less about the Gladbach lead, because they are on a really good run of form right now but it won’t last long. Leipzig on the otherhand, have a really good squad starring with the likes of Timo Werner, Marcel Sabitzer with an able shot-stopper in Peter Gulasci. Leipzig also have the best managing talent in the league (and maybe Europe) in Julian Nagelsmann, whose side have won the last 4 games scoring plenty of goals. So, if we are expecting a fighback from Bayern in the Rueckrunde, expect Leipzig to be our title rivals.

The Champions League, on the other hand is a different story entirely. Bayern have the highest points with 6 wins 0 draws 0 losses and the highest number of away goals scored record – 16. Robert Lewandowski is in red hot form with 10 goals in 5 games and we expect our talismanic striker to carry his supernatural form into the knockout stage.

The Champions League Round of 16 draw will take place at the headquarters of UEFA in Nyon, Switzerland, on December 16, Monday at 4.30PM IST. The draw will be live streamed on the UEFA Champions League website.

Possible opponents in the Champions league Round of 16 could be Real Madrid, Napoli, Chelsea, Atlanta, Lyon and Atletico Madrid. As a Bayern faithful, I would like to avoid Real Madrid, other than that none of the other teams pose a serious threat to the Bavarian Giants.