Preview: A case of "Bayern Dusel"?
Jürgen Klopp’s grey hairs are at an all-time high. Tactics are perhaps not exactly his concern at this point. He has to find a back line to field first. Lukasz Piszczek is only starting to regain match fitness following hip surgery after the Champions League finale. Marcel Schmelzer succumbed to injury in his country’s friendly against England and is set to miss out along with Mats Hummels, who is set to be out for the rest of the year. Neven Subotic is out for the entire season.
As far as the midfield is concerned, Ilkay Gündogan, who was also injured in a friendly, is still out. Returning to the defense, the injuries prompted Klopp to sign the former Leverkusen defender, Manuel Friedrich for the whole season. Friedrich has not played competitively this season. Whether he is match fit is a big question.
Bayern’s incredible depth covers the fact that they are also dealing with a host of injury problems, of which, especially key are those to Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Pep Guardiola is not too optimistic about a fast comeback for Ribery, who cracked a rib in midweek action for France. Xherdan Shaqiri, Claudio Pizarro and Holger Badstuber are also absent.
What the injuries mean for Bayern is that Mario Götze might start the match. This, of course, will not go down well in Dortmund where Götze is still considered by and large a traitor, a player who left the club in search of better finances. As far as tactics are concerned, Pep Guardiola’s midfield selections are set to be scrutinized. Without Schweinsteiger, he can deploy Toni Kroos, Javier Martinez or Philipp Lahm as a single pivot. Also, he might be forced into playing Mario Mandzukic up top, something he was ignoring rather regularly alarmingly.
Bayern might consider themselves slightly lucky due to the simple fact that they might be able to open up BVB more easily because BVB’s entire defense fell apart before this match. However, they cannot completely consider this a case of Bayern Dusel as Dortmund is at their best when their backs are to the Yellow and Black wall.
This game can be billed as one between Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola as the tactics will be key. Pep already lost to Klopp in the German Supercup and might decide to alter his tactics to what he used that day. Also, two players who will be key in deciding this match are Toni Kroos and Marco Reus. Kroos, as the midfield orchestrator, will have to prevent his team from being run over when BVB eventually counterattacks. Reus is often the one who makes BVB tick. He needs to take his chances if BVB are to win.
Finally, BVB really needs to win this match; a seven point gap will exist between the current top two in the Bundesliga if Bayern wins. The title race could effectively be over in November if Dortmund does not at least earn a draw in this match.
Where to watch the match: Live Streams, Live Scores, Start Times, TV Channels:
Watch Borussia Dortmund vs FC Bayern München live on Saturday, November 23, 2013:
In Canada at 12:30 ET on GolTV Canada
In the UK at 17:30 BST on BT Sport 1
In the USA at 12:30 ET on Gol TV USA
In Germany, viewers can tune into Sky Bundesliga HD 2 to watch the match.
For the complete TV listings and live scores upon kick-off, visit the Dortmund-Bayern match page.
