BERLIN: Who can end Bayern Munich’s winning start to the season?
After a week in which they defeated European champion Paris Saint-Germain and 2024 Bundesliga champion Bayer Leverkusen to stretch their record to 16 wins across all competitions, Bayern should be wary of a surprise against Union Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Union have never beaten Bayern at home in the Bundesliga since their promotion in 2019, but the Bavarian powerhouse can count on a battle in Köpenick, where Union held Bayern to 1-1 last season and where Steffen Baumgart’s team are unbeaten in four games across all competitions.
Bayern were also drawn at Union in the next round of the German Cup in early December.
Another win in the league for Bayern would match the team’s 10-game winning start in 2015 under Pep Guardiola.
Key matchups
Borussia Mönchengladbach host Cologne for the Rhine derby on Saturday, with both teams confident after morale-boosting wins. Cologne beat promoted rival Hamburger SV 4-1, and Gladbach enjoyed a 4-0 win at St. Pauli for their first Bundesliga win of the season, and the first under interim coach Eugen Polanski.
Borussia Dortmund will attempt to bounce back from their 4-1 defeat at Manchester City in the Champions League when they visit promoted Hamburger SV on Saturday.
Niko Kovač’s side had been on a four-game winning run since a 2-1 loss at Bayern.
Elsewhere, Leipzig haven’t lost a game since the 6-0 defeat at Bayern in the opening round. Ole Werner’s team travel to Hoffenheim for what rivals tauntingly call “El Plastico.”
Leipzig and Hoffenheim are among the league’s most unpopular teams because their ascents to the Bundesliga were financed by energy drinks company Red Bull and software billionaire Dietmar Hopp, respectively. Hoffenheim advertised tickets for the game by calling it “Der Unbeliebtico” – a play on the German word for disliked.
Players to watch
Luis Diaz will be keen to make amends for getting sent off during Bayern’s win at PSG for a bad tackle on Achraf Hakimi. The injured Morocco right back faces a race against time to be back for the Africa Cup of Nations in his home country.
Union defender Leopold Querfeld will be tasked with keeping Bayern’s attacking trio of Diaz, Harry Kane and Michael Olize in check – no small order for the 21-year-old Austria international.
Ivory Coast teenager Yan Diomande forced an own goal and scored another in Leipzig’s 3-1 win over Stuttgart, showing why there’s so much excitement about the 18-year-old who joined from Spanish team Leganes in the offseason.
Dutch midfielder Wout Burger scored twice in Hoffenheim’s 3-2 win over Wolfsburg last weekend, helping the team to sixth with their third straight Bundesliga win.
Off the field
Germany presented their new national team shirt on Wednesday — the last produced by Adidas before Nike takes over in 2027 — and it’s an homage to the jersey worn by West Germany when it won the World Cup in 1990. It features the black, red and yellow stripes of the German flag stretching from the shoulders across the chest.
According to business newspaper Handelsblatt, Nike is paying the German soccer federation some 100 million euros per year, twice as much as it was earning from longstanding supplier Adidas, to take the business from its German rival.
The new shirt will make its debut when the Germany men face Luxembourg in a World Cup qualifier on Nov. 14. The women will get to wear it on Nov. 28 in the Nations League final against Spain.
Bundesliga record in sight as Bayern Munich aims to keep winning run going
https://arab.news/m4zak
Bundesliga record in sight as Bayern Munich aims to keep winning run going
- Union have never beaten Bayern at home in the Bundesliga since their promotion in 2019
- Bayern were also drawn at Union in the next round of the German Cup in early December
Lopez double fires Barcelona to 4-2 comeback win at Slavia Prague
- The win lifts Barcelona to ninth place in the standings with one game remaining on 13 points, level with seven other teams vying for a top-eight finish
Barcelona came from behind to defeat Slavia Prague 4-2 on a freezing night in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Fermin Lopez scoring twice and Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski adding second-half goals to secure the victory.
The win lifts Barcelona to ninth place in the standings with one game remaining on 13 points, level with seven other teams vying for a top-eight finish and direct qualification for the round of 16. Slavia languish third from bottom with just three points.
On a bitterly cold evening in Prague, with temperatures dropping to minus eight Celsius, Slavia stunned the visitors with an early lead.
A cleverly worked corner in the 10th minute saw Tomas Holes flick a delivery from the near to the far post, where Vasil Kusej bundled the ball across the line under pressure from Frenkie de Jong.
Barcelona levelled in the 34th minute through Lopez, who unleashed a sharp, angled strike from inside the box, squeezing the ball past keeper Jindrich Stanek at the near post after a faint deflection off the Slovakian’s shoulder.
Lopez doubled his tally and gave Barcelona the lead in the 42nd minute with a fine effort from the edge of the box. The attacking midfielder found the bottom right corner with precision, leaving Stanek no chance.
Barca’s advantage lasted just two minutes as an unfortunate defensive mishap saw Slavia equalize. Under pressure defending a corner, Lewandowski inadvertently deflected the ball off his shoulder and into his own net to send the teams into halftime level at 2-2.
After regrouping at the break, Barcelona took control of the game in the second half, relentlessly attacking Slavia’s defense.
Raphinha, Pedri and Lopez all squandered good opportunities before substitute Olmo produced a moment of magic. In the 64th minute, he hammered an unstoppable strike from the edge of the box into the top corner, restoring Barcelona’s lead in emphatic style.
Lewandowski atoned for his earlier own goal by sealing the victory in the 70th minute.
Marcus Rashford — another second-half substitute — went on a blistering run down the left flank and delivered a cross into the box. Although Lewandowski initially struggled to control the pass, he reacted quickly to poke the ball past Stanek and give Barcelona a two-goal cushion.
“We knew it would be a difficult match with the cold weather, they’ve put a lot of pressure on us, it was tough... my feet and hands hurt, can barely feel them... It was tough, but we managed to come back and win,” Lopez told Movistar Plus.
“We were aware that goal difference was something important looking to secure a top-eight finish, we wanted to keep a clean sheet but it was difficult. Good thing we managed to play well and got the win.”
