Bayern have a clear objective as they make the trip to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday (kick-off at 15:30 CET, coverage on fcbayern.com and in the FC Bayern app with our live text and free web radio). Julian Nagelsmann and his men are out to defend their lead at the top of the Bundesliga in this historic fixture. Here’s all you need to know about the Matchday 21 encounter in our preview.
Check out the best photos from final training on Friday
State of play for Bayern
After a run of three draws to start the year, Bayern are back on a roll with four wins on the spin across three competitions. The Munich side have followed a 4-0 victory at Mainz in the DFB Cup with a 4-2 success at Wolfsburg and 3-0 home win against Bochum in the Bundesliga. They capped that run on Tuesday with an excellent performance and 1-0 triumph away at Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie. It means Bayern go to Mönchengladbach full of confidence as they look to cement their position at the Bundesliga summit, beginning the weekend a point ahead of Union Berlin and three clear of Borussia Dortmund – both play on Sunday. It’s also a special game for goalkeeper Yann Sommer as he returns to his home of eight-and-a-half years following his January move to Munich. “He’ll handle it fine and have a good game,” Nagelsmann stated at his press conference on Friday.
See what else Nagelsmann had to say at his press conference:
Opponents Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia currently sit 10th in the Bundesliga standings with 26 points from 20 games. However, Daniel Farke’s side have only picked up four points from their five matches since the winter break, losing 4-1 away at Hertha Berlin last time out. However, the Foals have a habit of hitting their stride when Bayern come to town. The Bavarians have lost three of their last four visits to Borussia-Park, with the other result a draw.
Bayern against Gladbach has produced many memorable moments down the years:
Fitness update
Bayern are still without Sadio Mane, Lucas Hernandez, Manuel Neuer and Noussair Mazraoui for the trip to Gladbach. The latter started training with the ball again for the first time on Thursday. Nagelsmann has also said there’s a doubt over Kingsley Coman, after he went off early in Paris.
Top scorer Marcus Thuram and defender Joe Scally are also both doubts for the hosts with muscular problems. “I’m cautiously optimistic with Joe that he’ll be available. Things are more serious with Marcus, so we’ll have to wait and see how things progress,” said Gladbach boss Farke at his press conference on Thursday. Julian Weigl (ill) and Luca Netz (thigh) are also doubtful.
Check out the best facts ahead of the game:
What the coaches say
We had a very good game in the reverse fixture but failed to take a lot of chances. On our poster for the game I wrote: Auch da san mia mia – we are who we are there as well. That’s a good slogan we should take with us.
Julian Nagelsmann
We’re looking forward to the game. It’s always a highlight when you play against Bayern Munich, especially at home at Borussia-Park. We know we need an absolutely top performance and a lot of things have to come together. It’s a good chance for us to get the next points on the board, so we’re highly motivated to perform well and get a good result.
Daniel Farke (Borussia Mönchengladbach head coach)
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