Preview: Has a successful title defense caused Bayern unforeseen problems?
Bayern last secured a victory in the league when they played Hertha Berlin. Incidentally, that was the day they completed a successful defense of their Bundesliga title. Since then, Bayern has played five games and recorded a grand total of one victory. In that victory, Bayern only played to a high level for roughly half an hour after falling behind. It seems Bayern cannot be bothered to turn up these days. Pep Guardiola took the blame of the recent 0-3 defeat on his shoulders. While Dortmund was excellent, Bayern’s poor and almost apathetic approach cannot be ignored.
Some fans have pointed out that Pep Guardiola’s tinkering is the problem; this is because Guardiola experiments with tactics in almost every match. Against Manchester United, he used the “false fullback” tactic. This was regarded as a failure perhaps as Bayern switched back to a 4-2-3-1 after conceding. At the beginning of the season, he tried the 4-1-4-1. While Bayern has stuck with the single pivot, the single pivot has turned into a double pivot when they have been in trouble.
Now, Guardiola knows his team must raise their level; while Kaiserslautern is not the strongest opponent, Bayern must win this game if they are to have a chance to successfully defend the Cup with the green jewels. Kaiserslautern sits fourth in the 2.Bundesliga, four points behind SC Paderborn and still in with a shout for the relegation play-off berth. They will have to be careful in terms of discipline in this match perhaps as they have had a man sent off in each of their previous two matches. They beat St.Pauli, 2-3 and drew against VfL Bochum, 1-1 in their last games.
Bayern will be without Tom Starke, Thiago Alcantara, Holger Badstuber and Xherdan Shaqiri. Manuel Neuer will likely start in goal after being taken off as a precaution against Dortmund during the weekend. Otherwise, Lukas Raeder will be in goal once again.
Guardiola admitted that his side’s recent form is bothering him. This is what he had to say according to Sky Sports:
“If we play like we have done in the last three league games, we won't be reaching any finals.”
Will Bayern slip up against Kaiserslautern? Or will they earn a spot in a third DFB Pokal final in a row?
Where to watch the match: Live Streams, Live Scores, Start Times, TV Channels
Watch Bayern München vs 1.FC Kaiserslautern live on Wednesday, April 16, 2014:
In the UK at 19:30 BST on BT Sport 2
In the USA at 14:30 ET on Univision Deportes, ESPN3
In Germany, viewers can tune into Sky Sport 1 HD to watch this match amongst other networks.
For the complete TV listings and live scores upon kick-off, visit the Bayern-Kaiserslautern match
page.
