Bundesliga Preview: Bayern Munich – Borussia M’gladbach

Old rivals face off for the 42nd time in Munich...

Dec 3, 2009 2:59:10 PM

More On :  Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Bayern München, FC Bayern München vs Borussia Mönchengladbach
Champions League: Bayern Munich - Maccabi Haifa, Ivica Olic - Eyal Meshumar (Getty Images/Bongarts)
Kick-Off: Friday, December 4, 2009, 20:30 CET
Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany

Bayern: Back in Red

It’s been a good week at Bayern Munich. The Bundesliga record champions first kept their Champions League hopes alive with a win against Maccabi Haifa, and then took an impressive 3-0 victory in Hannover. During those matches, Bayern finally found a striker combination that has stepped up to the challenge of scoring goals: Ivica Olic and Mario Gomez. The in-form pair have scored four of Bayern’s last five goals, and the team is looking markedly better with them in the starting lineup.
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Also boosting the Bavarians’ spirits is good news from the injury ward. In addition to the return of Olic, Bayern are close to having wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery back in first-team contention. The “Flying Dutchman” is likely to start as a substitute against M’gladbach, and  “Ferraribery” could feature in next Tuesday’s do-or-die Champions League match against Juventus.

In addition to the good form Gomez and Olic have shown, Danijel Pranjic has come on very well in his recent matches, playing as a left-sided midfielder. The left-sided all-rounder scored 20 goals last year for Heerenveen, but has yet to net for Bayern. He and fellow Croatia international Olic have an ongoing bet that could result in Pranjic dressing up as Santa Claus and bring gifts to the Olic house. If he manages to score before the winter break, Pranjic will be exonerated from his duties.

With his team reaching top form, coach Louis van Gaal adopted the old adage, “never change a winning team,” as he pondered his selection possibilities for Friday. His conclusion was perfectly logical: “This team has won twice, played good football twice, and improved again against Hannover. I think we’ll play with the same line-up against Gladbach on Friday.”

Never before has van Gaal revealed so much so early. These must be good times in the Bayern camp.

M’gladbach: Back in Black (and White)

A bit more true to the AC/DC song, Borussia M’gladbach are back. It isn’t even close to a return to their 1970’s-1980’s standard, but die Fohlen are at least undefeated in their last five matches, and have sprung from the relegation zone to 11th place. During their unexpected run of form, M’gladbach have defeated the likes of Hamburg and, most recently, Schalke. Given their current good form  and Bayern’s inconsistency thus far, M’gladbach just might be able to conjure the kind of performance worthy of the rivalry of old.

During the three wins M’gladbach have earned in their last five matches, there have been a number of heroes. Goals have come from the positions of striker (Rob Friend), midfield (Marco Reus, 2), defense (Dante, Roel Brouwers), and even from opponents (unlucky Frankfurt goalkeeper Oka Nikolov).

Coach Michael Frontzeck has done his homework in preparing for tomorrow’s match: he even was a spectator at Bayern’s recent win over Hannover. His reaction was one of admiration for his opponents: “Bayern are a team who can up the pace and score goals at any time,” he said at a recent press conference. “They're composed on the ball and the quality in their squad is second to none.”

To take a win in Munich is always difficult, but tomorrow, history stands firmly in the way of the visitors: in their 41 trips to Munich, M’gladbach have lost 31 times and won just once, in 1995.

Yet, Frontzeck considers tomorrow’s match anything but a foregone conclusion: “It's not right to say we have nothing to lose,” he said defiantly. “We have three points to lose and we're going to do everything we can to keep our run going.”

FORM GUIDE

Bayern Munich
29 Nov v Hannover (A) WON 3-0 (Bundesliga)
25 Nov v Maccabi Haifa (H) WON 1-0 (Champions League)
22 Nov v Bayer Leverkusen (H) DREW 1-1 (Bundesliga)
7 Nov v Schalke (H) DREW 1-1 (Bundesliga)
3 Nov v Bordeaux (H) LOST 2-0 (Champions League)

Borussia M’gladbach
28 Nov v Schalke (H) WON 1-0 (Bundesliga)
21 Nov v Eintracht Frankfurt (A) WON 2-1 (Bundesliga)
7 Nov v Stuttgart (H) DREW 0-0 (Bundesliga)
31 Oct v Hamburg (A) WON 3-2 (Bundesliga)
24 Oct v Koeln (H) DREW 0-0 (Bundesliga)

TEAM NEWS

Bayern Munich

Frank Ribery and Andreas Goerlitz are not yet match fit, and are definite absentees from Louis van Gaal’s squad. Otherwise, the Dutch tactician has a full squad to choose from.

Possible Starting XI: Butt – Lahm, van Buyten, Demichelis Badstuber – Pranjic, van Bommel, Schweinsteiger, Mueller – Gomez, Olic

Borussia M’gladbach

Philipp Daems and Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker (both tendonitis), Gal Alberman (heel surgery), Christian Dorda (patellar tendon), and Paul Stalteri will all miss out on Friday’s clash. Jean-Sebastian Jaures is likely to retain his starting role as left back, and Rob Friend is also set to start as striker, although the latter could be replaced by Raul Bobadilla.

Possible Starting XI: Bailly – Levels, Brouwers, Dante, Jaures – Reus, Bradley, Marx, Arango – Matmour, Friend

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich)

The Bundesliga’s most expensive player has scored in consecutive matches and has shown vast improvement at the head of Bayern’s attack. If Bayern are going to extend their winning streak, their high-profile striker will have to tap a rich vein of form. If Gomez can cause trouble for Roel Brouwers and Dante, there will be extra room carved out for co-conspirators Ivica Olic, Thomas Mueller, and Arjen Robben to attack.

Marco Reus (Borussia M’gladbach)

The right-winger has scored two goals in recent matches and has been in great form overall. He’ll have his hands full, however, as Olic an Danijel Pranjic will ply their trade on his side of the pitch. Reus will have to play an all-round winger role, helping aid in attack but also backtracking in defense. In all likelihood, the match may be won or lost on his side of the pitch.

PREDICTION

Two in-form teams face off in Munich on Friday, but the home side will be boosted by the return of Robben, who possesses the rare talent of being able to win matches all on his own. M’gladbach will, without doubt, be on the defensive and make it difficult to score, and a draw would be no surprise. Bayern’s record of conceding goals at the Allianz Arena is also exceptionally low, so I’ll predict a narrow win for the hosts.

Bayern Munich 1-0 Borussia M’gladbach

Clark Whitney, Goal.com
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