Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Bayern taking nothing for granted
BAYERN Munich’s Arjen Robben has warned his teammates to avoid anything “strange” happening when the Bundesliga leaders host bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig today.
Strugglers Braunschweig could not have picked a worse time to travel to the home of all-conquering Bayern, who are on record runs in the Bundesliga and Champions League.
Munich’s emphatic 3-0 win at Borussia Dortmund last Saturday extended their record run to 38 matches unbeaten in the Bundesliga. And Wednesday’s 3-1 win at CSKA Moscow gave them a record 10th consecutive Champions League victory.
But Bayern want to consolidate their four-point gap at the top of the German league table and Robben has warned his teammates not to assume three more points at the Allianz Arena.
“We respect each and every opponent and I’ve often seen in my career that when top plays bottom, strange things can happen. That’s why everyone should concentrate on their performance, we have to be fully focused and it won’t be easy. You should never take anything for granted in games like these.”
Braunschweig coach Torsten Lieberknecht has said his side are neither “underdogs, nor lapdogs” as they look for their first ever win over Bayern in Munich and only their third win of the season.
But the odds are stacked heavily against an upset.
Braunschweig have never won in Munich, after four draws with 14 defeats in 18 meetings, and they have failed to score in their last four matches against Bayern.
It has been just under five years since the Bavarian giants last slipped up against the side bottom of the table when they crashed to a 2- 0 defeat at Energie Cottbus in 2008.
Second- placed Bayer Leverkusen are home to Nuremberg as they look to bounce back from their 5-0 drubbing to Manchester United at the BayArena, their worst defeat in Europe.
Bayer are unbeaten in 11 Bundesliga home games since March, when they went down 2-1 to Bayern, while Nuremberg are the only team in Europe’s top five leagues without a win after eight draws and five defeats this season.
Having got their Champions League campaign back on track with a 3-1 win at home to Napoli, Borussia Dortmund are looking to kick-start their Bundesliga form at Mainz 05 after consecutive defeats.
A crop of injuries has seen coach Jurgen Klopp forced to cobble together a back four.
New signing Manuel Friedrich, who was without a club before being signed by Dortmund 10 days ago, is expected to partner Sokratis at centre-back.
Fresh from their Champions League draw at Steaua Bucharest, Schalke 04 host their bogey team VfB Stuttgart today looking to build some form having thrown away a 2-0 lead in Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt.
With 26 goals conceded after 13 games, Schalke have their worst defence for 20 years and will be without goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand, who has a bruised hip. – Sapa-AFP