Preview: Is another ‘Autumn Championship’ in the reckoning for Bayern?
In their last match of the Bundesliga prior to the Winter Break, the Bavarians will be involved in a "South vs North" showdown. With a win, Bayern will guarantee themselves top spot going into the second half of the season ahead of Leverkusen. Due to the Club World Cup, they will be unable to participate in Match-day 17 of the Bundesliga.
In midweek, the team from Munich showed a rare moment of weakness. After going 2-0 up against Manchester City, Bayern became complacent and stepped a gear down. They could never switch up to another gear as City hit three without reply. Had Bayern conceded a fourth, they would not have topped their UEFA Champions League group.
An unusual moment of such complacency against Arsenal FC last season compelled Bayern to push themselves to the treble. They will hope the same occurs this time around. Pep Guardiola quelled any thoughts of his side being the best Europe has to offer after the match, also revealing that he has very little idea about how his team will react following defeat to Bayern’s official website:
“I hope the team has understood this: they were the best team in Europe last season, but now with a new coach we’re not yet the best in Europe! We have a lot of work to do if we’re to be champions again.
I don’t know how we’ll react (after the defeat against City). But normally it’s easier to focus after defeats.”
Die Roten will be without Bastian Schweinsteiger, Holger Badstuber, Arjen Robben and the suspended Jerome Boateng. David Alaba injured his finger recently and is doubtful as a result as is Javier Martinez who has a shoulder problem. They will be looking to pick up a sixteenth home win from 16 home fixtures in the Bundesliga in this calendar year. HSV will be without Rene Adler who has an ankle problem. Maximilian Beister is suspended while Ivo Ilicevic, who scored a brilliant goal against Bayern in his Kaiserslautern days, is on compassionate leave.
Hamburg is now operating under Bert Van Marwijk, the former Dutch national team coach. Their form had improved recently until last weekend. They lost to Augsburg, 0-1, in their previous Bundesliga match. Prior to that match, Hamburg picked up a point against Wolfsburg and three against Hannover 96. The team from northern Germany is currently thirteenth, tied on 16 points with bitter rivals Werder Bremen after 15 games.
They will be looking to avoid embarrassment considering what happened in the previous league meeting against Bayern. The European Champions and treble winners put nine past them while HSV struck only twice. Claudio Pizarro himself bagged four on the day. He will be hoping to earn some playing time in this one.
Van Marwijk, despite knowing about the quality of the opposition, is not prepared to accept a loss yet according to Bayern’s official website:
“I never travel to a match accepting I’m going to lose.”
Overall, this will be an interesting meeting as for the first time since March, Bayern will now have to react to a defeat.
Where to watch the match: Live Streams, Live Scores, Start Times, TV Channels
Watch Bayern München vs. Hamburger SV live on Saturday, December 14, 2013:
In Canada at 09:30 ET on GolTV Canada
In the USA at 09:30 ET on Gol TV USA
In Germany, viewers can tune into WDR 2 to watch the match.
For the complete TV listings and live scores upon kick-off, visit the Bayern-Hamburg match page.
