With Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé out of the way in which, Bayern Munich can now change focus to getting the sting on German league rival Borussia Dortmund.
The “Klassiker” between Bayern and Dortmund isn’t till April 1, however the two groups are even on factors on the high of the Bundesliga and every has a probably difficult sport in opposition to an area rival this weekend.
Augsburg might not appear to be a lot of a problem for a Bayern workforce which beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 on mixture within the Champions League. However, Augsburg has gained two of its final 4 video games in opposition to Bayern and has a historical past of taking factors off its bigger Bavarian neighbor at inconvenient instances.
Besides the morale enhance of beating PSG, Wednesday’s sport in Munich introduced some encouraging indicators for Bayern and coach Julian Nagelsmann forward of Saturday’s sport in opposition to Augsburg.
Josip Stanišić particularly did nicely in protection to comprise Mbappé rather than the suspended Benjamin Pavard, however could also be anticipated to surrender his place in opposition to Augsburg.
Bayern’s depth was on present as Leroy Sané, Serge Gnabry and lately injured Sadio Mané all made invaluable contributions off the bench. Nagelsmann has mentioned Mané is totally match, so he may very well be in line for his first begin since a leg damage brought about him to overlook final 12 months’s World Cup.
For Dortmund, it’s a distinct story. A ten-game profitable run to begin 2023 helped the membership to attract even on factors with Bayern and dream of ending its rival’s unprecedented 10-season streak of German titles. That run got here to a sudden finish in Tuesday’s 2-0 loss at Chelsea, a end result which eradicated Dortmund from the Champions League.
Dortmund has to bounce again in a heated native rivalry on Saturday at Schalke, which a certain wager for relegation a number of weeks in the past however is now on a six-game unbeaten run that provides it hope for survival.
A Ruhr derby is historically one in every of German soccer’s most anticipated video games, however Schalke’s struggles in latest seasons have considerably diminished the attract of the sport. Still, Schalke’s stadium shall be packed and can give Dortmund a hostile welcome.
Dortmund coach Edin Terzic shall be with out Julian Brandt after the ahead went off after 5 minutes within the loss to Chelsea with a muscle fiber tear. He can also be out of subsequent week’s sport in opposition to Cologne, Dortmund mentioned Thursday.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com