The midweek Champions League defeat to Girondins Bordeaux means the pressure is on when Bayern return to the bread-and-butter of the Bundesliga at home to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday (Live in English from 3.15 pm on FCB.tv Web Radio). The 850th victory in the club’s top flight history would not only polish up Munich’s tarnished reputation, it could also help cut the gap to the league leaders.
“The team has to show a reaction now. We have to start on Saturday in the Bundesliga against Frankfurt,” demanded chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge in the build-up to the first of two meetings with Eintracht in the space of five days – the second is a cup tie on Wednesday. The team had to “adopt different methods compared to those in the first half” against Bordeaux. “We need a better and more determined display,” Rummenigge urged.
The switch from the Champions League to the Bundesliga was easier when anger was the dominant emotion in the dressing room, offered captain Mark van Bommel: “It’s easier to refocus after a defeat.” Bayern are capable of that, as Frankfurt know only too well: Six months ago, Munich responded to a 4-0 hiding off Barcelona with a thumping win over Eintracht by the same score.
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