FIRST TEAM
01/29/2021

Bayern are out for revenge

TSG Hoffenheim will travel to champions Bayern Munich on Saturday (15:30 CET, live updates on tsg-hoffenheim.de). Coach Hansi Flick's team, who are seven points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table, are looking to get some revenge for the 1-4 defeat against TSG on Matchday 2 earlier this season.

The players, coaches and staff of Bayern Munich have bad memories of 27 October. On that Sunday in autumn, they came to Sinsheim fresh from being crowned UEFA Super Cup winners, having beaten Sevilla in Budapest three days beforehand and thus secured their fourth major title within a few weeks after winning the German Championship, the DFB Cup and the Champions League. Yet TSG Hoffenheim managed to humble the best team in Europe on Matchday 2. Munich found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-1 result. It was and still remains Bayern's biggest defeat under coach Hansi Flick and was the only competitive match they lost in the 2020 calendar year. "In the last game against us, TSG did very well. They caught us at a time when we were a little tired. This time, we want to win the match against Hoffenheim after three consecutive victories," said Flick at the press conference in Munich on Friday.

Bayern's mission for the match in the Allianz Arena is clear: the Munich team are out for revenge for the hiding they got against TSG, although regular starter Leon Goretzka and substitute Javi Martinez will miss the match, having tested positive for Coronavirus. At the end of September, TSG took the top spot by winning against Bayern. Since then, however, normal service has been resumed in the league: Munich lead the way again and have the chance to increase their seven-point lead with a win against Hoffenheim at the weekend, as the closest of the chasing pack, Leipzig and Leverkusen, play each other on Saturday. Flick denied the suggestion his team were already on a clear course for their 31st German league title: "That's absolute rubbish. We have a cushion, no more. Hoffenheim can be a very tricky opponent, and after that, we will have more difficult tasks waiting for us," said the 55-year-old.

Flick and his players are fully focused on TSG, who will come to Munich feeling good after the two 3-0 victories away at Hertha BSC and at home to Cologne. That made it three clean sheets in a row for goalkeeper Oliver Baumann and Co, having previously kept out Bielefeld before that. The Munich players know how good Hoffenheim can be on their day, having also lost their last Bundesliga home game against TSG 1-2 on 5 October 2019. Flick was still assistant coach to head coach Niko Kovac at that time, who parted company with Bayern a few weeks later.

After two days off at the beginning of the week, the Bayern coach called his first team back to the training ground on Wednesday. Only Corentin Tolisso (muscle problems) and Tanguy Nianzou (back in training after a serious muscle tear) trained separately. They are not available for Saturday's game. On Thursday, Goretzka and Martinez joined them on the injury list, so Flick will have to change his normal starting eleven. Jamal Musiala is one player who might come in to replace Goretzka. In addition, the coach has the option to switch both his full backs and wingers, without the quality of the team suffering as a result. Niklas Süle and Benjamin Pavard are fighting for the right-back position, while Alphonso Davis and Lucas Hernandez are competing to start at left-back. Up-front, Kingsley Coman could come into the starting line-up in place of Leroy Sane. No matter who takes to the pitch for Bayern, one thing is for certain: TSG have a big task on their hands.

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