Holstein Kiel the ‘utmost priority’ as Bayern kick off exciting February

The Bundesliga leaders host the top-flight debutants as Holstein Kiel come to the Allianz Arena on Saturday (kick-off at 3.30pm CET, live coverage on fcbayern.com and in the FC Bayern app with our text commentary and free web radio). Here’s all you need to know ahead of this Matchday 20 encounter.

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There wasn’t too much jubilation on the back of Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Slovan Bratislava as it proved not enough to finish in the top eight of the Champions League’s league phase. It means instead of a February with only weekend games, Vincent Kompany and his team now face the mid-month highlight of a two-legged play-off against Celtic alongside key domestic fixtures away at Bayer Leverkusen and at home to Eintracht Frankfurt. But the Belgian boss isn’t looking that far ahead just yet. “Kiel are our utmost priority,” he said at Friday’s pre-match press conference. “We want to go into the game with hunger and show what we want to achieve this season.”

Things have been going well for the Bavarians in the Bundesliga of late, winning their last five games to open up a six-point lead at the top and posting some impressive numbers. “It’s good to hear we’ve got the best attack and the best defence. That shows we’re doing our job,” Kompany affirmed, while also insisting that the fact Bayern are clear favourites for this game doesn’t make any difference to how he wants to approach it. “It’s always a mentality thing for how we go into this game. The assumption is always that we’ll see the best of Holstein Kiel.”

Read more from Kompany and Max Eberl’s pre-match press conference here:

Opponent: Holstein Kiel

Bundesliga debutants Kiel have moved into less choppy waters after a rough start to life in the top division. They may only have 12 points to their name – the second-worst total by a team in their maiden Bundesliga campaign in the three-point-for-a-win era, after Greuther Fürth in 2012/13 – but have shown in recent results that they can indeed compete at this level. Last weekend Marcel Rapp and his team took a point from Wolfsburg with a 2-2 draw, while they also beat Borussia Dortmund 4-2 at home earlier in January. Plus there was the 2-2 draw on Matchday 6 when Holstein “earned a point away at a very good team in Leverkusen,” according to the Storks’ boss, who asks why his side can’t now do the same in Munich.

“We know when Holstein Kiel play away at Bayern Munich that you’re huge outsiders. A lot of things have to come together so we can get a point or even win,” said Rapp. “We need to do the things that make us who we are – run, fight and stick to the plan. That’ll be even more important against Bayern. Then we’ll see what comes of it.”

Read up on the facts ahead of Saturday's game:

Team news

Sven Ulreich and Leon Goretzka are eligible again after serving suspensions in the Champions League against Bratislava, although the latter is sidelined at the moment with a hamstring injury. Kompany doesn’t expect the squad to look any different from Wednesday, with Daniel Peretz (kidney), Hiroki Ito (metatarsal) and Alphonso Davies (hamstring) all still out. The club’s newest signing, Jonas Urbig, could feature in the squad for the first time, though.

Kiel make the long trip south without Nicolai Remberg (suspended), Colin Kleine-Bekel (knee), Carl Johansson (knee), Patrick Erras (concussion), Alexander Bernhardsson (knee) and Marvin Schulz (adductor).

Jonas Urbig was unveiled as a Bayern player on Friday:

What the coaches say