First it was the Premier League, then La Liga, Ligue 1, and Serie A followed. And finally, the last of Europe's "Big 5" leagues, the Bundesliga finally resumes action in 2016 after a long hiatus as Hamburg welcome Bayern Munich for matchday 18 of the 2015/2016 Bundesliga campaign. The hosts will certainly hope that their visitors will take some time to wake up following the winter break as they have not beaten die Roten since September 26, 2009.
Hamburg
The last time Hamburg faced Bayern Munich, die Rothosen were subject to a 5-0 thrashing at the Allianz Arena. This came on the heels of losing 8-0 during the 2014/2015 season, a rough term that saw this once-proud club barely avoid relegation to the second tier after surviving the play-off rounds, which was the second consecutive term they finished near-bottom of the table.
Things have improved for them this year, as they currently sit in tenth place with 22 points, seven away from the drop zone. Bruno Labbadia's men have posted some impressive results, including beating Borussia Dortmund 3-1 in November, but they will be coming into this game having without a win in their last three games. Additionally, they have only avoided a defeat against Bayern on three occasions since their slender 1-0 win back in September 2009 with a trio of draws in October 2010, February 2012, and September 2014.
In their 13 meetings since that famous win over the Bavarian giants, Hamburg have only managed to score more than one goal just once - and that was during the 9-2 humiliation suffered on March 20, 2013; this was their joint-worst loss since being crushed by 1860 Munich in March 1963.
Bayern Munich
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich might be saying auf wiedersehen to Pep Guardiola at the end of this season but die Roten fans do not need to worry as the Bavarian powerhouse have already secured the services of highly successful manager Carlo Ancelotti. Not surprisingly, with the caliber of players currently donning the iconic red kit, Bayern have again enjoyed an excellent campaign so far, with 15 wins out their first 17 games and are currently sitting on top of the table with an eight point lead over title challengers Dortmund.
Bayern have never won four straight league titles, and in Guardiola's final season at the Allianz Arena, the Bavarian powerhouse will definitely want to make this happen this campaign - as well as, of course, make another attempt at clinching the Champions League. With a tricky round of 16 clash with Serie A champions Juventus coming up next month, the visitors will be keen on starting 2016 off well with a resounding win against Hamburg this Friday.
The winter break has done Bayern some good, as Guardiola will be able to re-call injured players like Arjen Robben and Douglas Costa - who has been very impressive in his debut season - and others like Franck Ribery and Mehdi Benatia should soon return to action in the next few weeks. Still, whilst the visitors enjoy the historical advantage over Hamburg, they will be coming into this game having lost their recent friendly clash 2-1 versus Karlsruher.
Additionally, Bayern supporters will certainly not have forgotten the team's 4-1 defeat to Wolfsburg last January in their first game post the holiday break, in which die Roten conceded the same number of goals in less than 90 minutes as they had for the entire first half of the 2014/2015 season.
Will Bayern kick start 2016 with a win? Or will Hamburg hand them a shock defeat and overturn their own run of bad luck against a familiar opponent?
Which channel is broadcasting Hamburg vs Bayern Munich on TV or Online?
The 2015/2016 Bundesliga is finally back in action and if you happen to be in Hamburg, you might be heading to the Volksparkstadion to watch Hamburg try their luck against reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. For those of us not able to attend to catch the action live, LiveSoccerTV.com has plenty of options to ensure you don't miss out on any of Friday's action, whether it's via TV, computer, phone, or tablet.
Here are some selections for fans residing elsewhere in Germany and in the following countries:
- In the USA at 14.30 EST on: Fox Sports 1 USA, Fox Soccer 2GO USA, GOLTV USA, Fox Sports GO
- In Germany at 20.30 CET on: Sky Go Deutschland, TeleClub Sport Live, ARD Das Erste, Sport1.FM
- In the UK at 19.30 GMT on: BT Sport 2
- In Canada at 14.30 ET on: Sportsnet One, Sportsnet World Now
Call somewhere else home? Simply check out our special Hamburg vs Bayern Munich broadcast page for viewing times and options for wherever you are currently based.
*Note: Live broadcast data is subject to change*
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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