After a long hiatus, the league of world champions is set to resume tonight. The very first match of the Ruckrunde 2017 will see the reigning champions and current league leaders FC Bayern travel to Schwarzwald stadion to face midtable Freiburg. The Bavarians hold a decent three point lead over second placed RB Leipzig.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men travelled to Doha for their preseason preparations and put in some bright performances in the friendlies, clinching the Telekom cup title just a few weeks ago. Bayern also landed a heavy blow in the transfer market just a week ago, acquiring signatures of Hoffenheim duo Niklas Sule and Sebastian Rudy. Both will join the team from next summer.
Bayern hold the league’s strongest record both offensively and defensively. Scoring 38 goals, and conceding just nine, they have been dominant going forward and while defending. However, Bayern under coach Carlo Ancelotti has often faced criticism this season, not being clinical and struggling against big teams. The Italian even had to change his preferred 4-3-3 formation in order to find some success. The new 4-2-3-1 formation, however, seems to be paying off well for the former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager.
SC Freiburg on the other hand, are a fierce bunch. Currently on an unbeaten run of four games, Christian Streich’s men will be looking to extend their streak to five games. In their last Bundesliga match, switching back to December of 2016, the side from the Black Forest, won 2:1 against Ingolstadt. German striker Florian Niederlechner was the man of the match for head coach Christian Streich’s squad as he scored a brace in the 34th and 41st minutes.
A point will be enough for Bayern to secure the Herbstmeisterschaft and become winter champions for the 22nd time in their 52nd top-flight campaign. However, the record champions will also be aiming to put pressure on the chasing pack with a win to extend their lead over RB Leipzig, whom they beat 3-0 in the final game of 2016. The Bavarians begin the year on a five-game Bundesliga winning streak, having scored 14 goals and conceded just two in that period.
Team News
The Bavarians will miss services of key midfielder Thiago Alcantara, the Spanish international has been one of the best players in the league this season. His absence might hand Renato Sanches a rare opportunity to prove himself in the Bundesliga. Jerome Boateng and Kingsley Coman stand among the other absentees for Carlo Ancelotti.
Christian Streich will miss a lot of defenders ahead of his team’s clash against Bayern. Experienced defender Georg Niedermeier will be out for some time along with Marc Oliver Kempf and Lukas Kubler. Young midfielder Jonas Meffert will also miss out due to illness.
Match Stats (Courtesy of Bundesliga.com)
- Freiburg have not lost in four games and spent the winter break in the top half of the table.
- Bayern have gone on to become champions on 18 of those 21 previous occasions they have claimed the Herbstmeisterschaft.
- With Uli Hoeneß as club president, FC Bayern have not lost any of their last 54 Bundesliga games (W48 D6), and they have won all six competitive matches since his re-election on 25 November 2016.
- The Reds have won their last 26 league games against promoted sides. They last dropped points against league newcomers in 2010, losing 2-0 to 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
- The Black Forest outfit already have as many wins (seven) after 16 games as they did in the whole of 2014/15 when they were relegated.
- Florian Niederlechner has four goals in his last five games. He scored twice in a Bundesliga game for the first time on MD16 at Ingolstadt.
Predicted Lineups
SC Freiburg: (4-4-2 formation) Alexander Schwolow; Pascal Stenzel, Manuel Gulde, Caglar Soyuncu, Christian Gunter; Mike Frantz, Amir Abrashi, Niklas Hofler, Vincenzo Grifo; Florian Niederlechner, Maximilian Philip.
FC Bayern: (4-3-3 formation) Manuel Neuer; Philip Lahm, Javi Martinez, Mats Hummels, David Alaba; Xabi Alonso, Renato Sanches, Arturo Vidal; Arjen Robben. Robert Lewandowski, Douglas Costa.
Prediction: Freiburg 1:2 Bayern
