Holger Badstuber’s stunning first senior goal sealed three vital Bundesliga points for Bayern in a good-quality meeting with former arch-rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday evening.
The 69,000 who ventured out on a damp and chilly Munich night, filling the Allianz Arena to capacity as normal, saw a thoroughly entertaining first period with Mario Gomez and Roel Brouwers trading goals in the opening half-hour. The match, marking the global debut of the Jabulani World Cup ball by Bayern partner adidas, lost momentum after the break, but the introduction of Arjen Robben reenergised the Bavarians and Badstuber cracked in a superb maiden goal 15 minutes from time to wrap up the win.
Munich are now unbeaten in eight games and go third in the overnight standings on 27 points from 15 matches, but with the true picture not available until the last of the weekend fixtures on Sunday evening, the most important dimension will be the boost to the team's confidence ahead of Tuesday's crunch Champions League trip to face Juventus.
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