In-form Bayern face stuttering Hamburg

This week’s DFB Cup second round was a good thing from a Bayern point of view. FCB cruised into the last sixteen with a 5-0 win against Oberhausen – and Munich’s next Bundesliga opponents suffered what their boss Bruno Labbadia called “a major setback”. Furthermore, Hamburg’s shock cup exit to third-division Osnabrück is bound to affect Saturday’s top of the table clash, Louis van Gaal believes.

“A defeat always influences the next game,” the FCB coach declared. Indeed, bitter disappointment was the order of the day for league leaders HSV. “That was a shit evening, not a good night at all,” Labbadia fumed. It was also the northerners’ third game in a row without a win, as Hamburg have lost two and drawn one over the last eight days. That was bound to undermine the early-season swagger at the club, Van Gaal feels.