What week it has been for Bayern Munich. After easily sealing the Bundesliga title with four games to spare, die Roten then turned their attention to part two of their Treble - the DFB Pokal. Unfortunately, the semi-final clash with Borussia Dortmund would end in Klassiker disappointment for Pep Guardiola's men. Not only were they dumped out after failing to convert any of their penalties, but also suffered devastating injuries to key players Arjen Robben and Robert Lewandowski.
With their huge clash with Barcelona coming up, Guardiola naturally will have other things on mind than this afternoon's fixture, and the former Blaugrana player and coach did not hide this during his customary pre-match press conference.
"Leverkusen are fighting for a direct Champions League qualifying position, but we have no more targets. We’ve done it already. The Bundesliga is over. We’ve already won it," he stated to reporters, but was less clear when asked about his available squad for the upcoming game:
Frage, ob Spieler am Wochenende in München bleiben. "Ich denke, es werden alle nach Leverkusen mitfliegen", sagt Pep. pic.twitter.com/Le4ci8O7Cs
— FC Bayern München (@FCBayern) May 1, 2015
"[When] asked whether some players will stay in Munich, Pep responded, 'I believe that everyone will be traveling to Leverkusen'"
Although Bayern have little to concern themselves about domestically, their upcoming opponents Bayer Leverkusen will have it all to play for this afternoon. Interestingly, the last meeting between the two sides - in the DFB Pokal - it took penalties for die Bayern to find a way past Roger Schmidt's men, and they saw their European dreams disappear after a hard-fought battle - and loss - to Atletico Madrid following yet another spot-kick shoot-out in the round of 16.
Despite Leverkusen having secured Champions League football for next season, they will surely wish to avoid the play-offs and can do so by overtaking Borussia Monchengladbach:
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With their own big game against Gladbach coming up in the next round, Bayer, who stumbled to a draw in their last game will be seeking to take advantage of Bayern's European distraction to win for the first time since October 28, 2012. Schmidt will have to make do without the services of defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos and midfielder Gonzalo Castro, with the duo struggling with shoulder and knee injuries respectively.
Leverkusen are currently unbeaten in their last nine league games, and were on an impressive seven-match winning streak prior to their draw against Köln. Can they take at least a point as they welcome the newly-crowned Bundesliga champions? Tune in to find out.
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