What: Bundesliga, Matchday 10 Who: Eintracht vs. Bayern Munich When: Wednesday, 29th October 2008, 20:00 (CET) Where: Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt have dragged themselves off the bottom of the table with two successive wins, but their injury ravaged side now face a resurgent Bayern Munich, who themselves have now won two on the trot. A fine game awaits at the Commerzbank Arena.
Bare Bones
Six points from two games has seen a sunnier atmosphere hanging over the Commerzbank Arena as Frankfurt have clawed their way out of the bottom three for the first time this season. However, perhaps their toughest opponents arrive on Wednesday with the team decimated by injuries.
Defeat to Leverkusen at home had the club at their lowest ebb and some sections of the home support demanding Funkel’s head. The board released a statement backing their under-fire trainer and the squad set off for an impromptu training camp.
That three-day break had the desired effect and the Adler responded with two successive wins over Karlsruhe and Cottbus. The arrival of Bayern Munich however provides a different class of opposition. Funkel however is remaining positive and wants to take something from the game.
“You always have a chance, but a lot will depend how the game pans out and how we cope with the weight of Bayern’s attack. We have to keep the game as open for as long as possible and every one of our players has to perform above himself.”
Funkel is also of the opinion that Bayern are on the up now following their successive Bundesliga victories. “Their on the up, and it will be a blitz quick rise to the top. I have and had no doubts whatsoever that Bayern wouldn’t finish this season as champions.
“They had their problems at the start, but that’s the same for all teams with players returning from the European Championships. It affected us too. But now their international players are finding their rhythm.”
Winter Champions?
If there is a new mood of optimism at the Commerzbank Arena, then the atmosphere surrounding Bayern has changed ten-fold. Within the space of three matches, the headlines have changed from it being Bayern’s worst start to a season in over 30 years to claims that they will be top of the table by Christmas.
A somewhat fortunate 1-0 win away to Karlsruhe was followed up with a top performance against Fiorentina in the Champions League. On Saturday it looked like another bad day at the office for Jürgen Klinsmann as his side went 2-0 down to Wolfsburg, but he showed clever tactical decision making as Bayern fought back with a superb second half display to win 4-2.
“A huge compliment goes to the team for turning the match around and exploiting their quality to get the result. That wasn’t a match for the faint-hearted” Klinsmann said afterwards.
That quality will need to be on show again on Wednesday as the Bavarians travel to the banking capital of Germany looking to profit from the injury crisis that Frankfurt are currently suffering.
“We’re expecting a very, very tough match in a seething cauldron. I can imagine Frankfurt focusing mainly on defence, so we’ll be asked to take the initiative in any case” Klinsmann explained.
“We need to move the ball at speed and look for gaps in their defence. We have to go there with the right mental attitude, and be prepared to go to the limit. It won’t be a walkover, it’ll be a really tricky encounter.
“But we’re there or thereabouts now, and we have to keep it up to get to where we want to be in the table” he added.
FORM GUIDE
Eintracht Frankfurt
25/10/08 v Energie Cottbus (a) WON 2-3 (Bundesliga)
22/10/08 v Karlsruhe (h) WON 2-1 (Bundesliga)
18/10/08 v Bayer Leverkusen (h) LOST 0-2 (Bundesliga)
04/10/08 v 1899 Hoffenheim (a) LOST 2-1 (Bundesliga)
28/09/08 v Arminia Bielefeld (h) DREW 1-1 (Bundesliga)
23/09/08 v Hansa Rostock (h) LOST 1-2 (DFB Pokal)
Bayern Munich
25/10/08 v Wolfsburg (h) WON 4-2 (Bundesliga)
21/10/08 v Fiorentina (h) WON 3-0 (Champions League)
18/10/08 v Karlsruhe (a) WON 0-1 (Bundesliga)
04/10/08 v Bochum (h) DREW 3-3 (Bundesliga)
30/09/08 v Olympique Lyonnais (h) DREW 1-1 (Champions League)
Injuries continue to plague trainer Friedhelm Funkel and it seems likely that he will only have enough players to name a 17-man squad to face Bayern with an U-19 and a U-23 player included.
Midfielder Junichi Inamoto is the latest to go down injured after suffering a torn muscle in the last minute of the weekend win over Cottbus. He joins Mehdi Mahdavikia, Benny Köhler, Chris, Ioannis Amanatidis, Bellaid, Alex Meier, Christophe Preuß, and Zlatan Bajramovic on the treatment table.
There are no new injury concerns for Jürgen Klinsmann meaning that he has the same four absentees. Luca Toni will miss out on the trip to the Commerzbank Arena as his looks to recover from his rib injury. Philipp Lahm, Hamit Altintop and Willy Sagnol are the others unavailable to Bayern at the moment.
The Greek striker has perhaps his finest game for Frankfurt at the weekend and will be the target man against Bayern on Wednesday. He will face a tough task against Lucio and Martin Demichelis, but with Bayern looking far from the solid defensive unit they were last season, Liberopoulos will fancy his chances of adding to the 15 goals Michael Rensing has conceded already this season.
Bayern Munich-Lukas Podolski Lukas
Podolski has been complaining again this season about his lack of opportunities, but with Luca Toni out with a rib injury, the German international will get a run of games in the side. He didn’t look overly impressed when Klinsmann took him off against Wolfsburg, but then he hadn’t found the net. If he is justify a place in the team, then he will have to start scoring and will want to prove himself against Frankfurt.
PREDICTION
With the injury crisis affecting Frankfurt, it would be a miracle if they were to get anything from Wednesday’s game. Friedhelm Funkel has 11 first team players unavailable, while Bayern seem to be coming into form. It should be a third successive win for Bayern and their recovery and charge up the table will be well in motion.
What: Bundesliga, Matchday 10
Who: Eintracht vs. Bayern Munich
When: Wednesday, 29th October 2008, 20:00 (CET)
Where: Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt have dragged themselves off the bottom of the table with two successive wins, but their injury ravaged side now face a resurgent Bayern Munich, who themselves have now won two on the trot. A fine game awaits at the Commerzbank Arena.
Bare Bones
Six points from two games has seen a sunnier atmosphere hanging over the Commerzbank Arena as Frankfurt have clawed their way out of the bottom three for the first time this season. However, perhaps their toughest opponents arrive on Wednesday with the team decimated by injuries.
Defeat to Leverkusen at home had the club at their lowest ebb and some sections of the home support demanding Funkel’s head. The board released a statement backing their under-fire trainer and the squad set off for an impromptu training camp.
That three-day break had the desired effect and the Adler responded with two successive wins over Karlsruhe and Cottbus. The arrival of Bayern Munich however provides a different class of opposition. Funkel however is remaining positive and wants to take something from the game.
“You always have a chance, but a lot will depend how the game pans out and how we cope with the weight of Bayern’s attack. We have to keep the game as open for as long as possible and every one of our players has to perform above himself.”
Funkel is also of the opinion that Bayern are on the up now following their successive Bundesliga victories. “Their on the up, and it will be a blitz quick rise to the top. I have and had no doubts whatsoever that Bayern wouldn’t finish this season as champions.
“They had their problems at the start, but that’s the same for all teams with players returning from the European Championships. It affected us too. But now their international players are finding their rhythm.”
Winter Champions?
If there is a new mood of optimism at the Commerzbank Arena, then the atmosphere surrounding Bayern has changed ten-fold. Within the space of three matches, the headlines have changed from it being Bayern’s worst start to a season in over 30 years to claims that they will be top of the table by Christmas.
A somewhat fortunate 1-0 win away to Karlsruhe was followed up with a top performance against Fiorentina in the Champions League. On Saturday it looked like another bad day at the office for Jürgen Klinsmann as his side went 2-0 down to Wolfsburg, but he showed clever tactical decision making as Bayern fought back with a superb second half display to win 4-2.
“A huge compliment goes to the team for turning the match around and exploiting their quality to get the result. That wasn’t a match for the faint-hearted” Klinsmann said afterwards.
That quality will need to be on show again on Wednesday as the Bavarians travel to the banking capital of Germany looking to profit from the injury crisis that Frankfurt are currently suffering.
“We’re expecting a very, very tough match in a seething cauldron. I can imagine Frankfurt focusing mainly on defence, so we’ll be asked to take the initiative in any case” Klinsmann explained.
“We need to move the ball at speed and look for gaps in their defence. We have to go there with the right mental attitude, and be prepared to go to the limit. It won’t be a walkover, it’ll be a really tricky encounter.
“But we’re there or thereabouts now, and we have to keep it up to get to where we want to be in the table” he added.
FORM GUIDE
Eintracht Frankfurt
25/10/08 v Energie Cottbus (a) WON 2-3 (Bundesliga)
22/10/08 v Karlsruhe (h) WON 2-1 (Bundesliga)
18/10/08 v Bayer Leverkusen (h) LOST 0-2 (Bundesliga)
04/10/08 v 1899 Hoffenheim (a) LOST 2-1 (Bundesliga)
28/09/08 v Arminia Bielefeld (h) DREW 1-1 (Bundesliga)
23/09/08 v Hansa Rostock (h) LOST 1-2 (DFB Pokal)
Bayern Munich
25/10/08 v Wolfsburg (h) WON 4-2 (Bundesliga)
21/10/08 v Fiorentina (h) WON 3-0 (Champions League)
18/10/08 v Karlsruhe (a) WON 0-1 (Bundesliga)
04/10/08 v Bochum (h) DREW 3-3 (Bundesliga)
30/09/08 v Olympique Lyonnais (h) DREW 1-1 (Champions League)
27/09/08 v Hannover (a) LOST 1-0 (Bundesliga)
Head To Head Record in Frankfurt:
16/04/08 Eintracht Frankfurt 1 Bayern Munich 3 (Bundesliga)
17/03/07 Eintracht Frankfurt 1 Bayern Munich 0 (Bundesliga)
29/04/06 Eintracht Frankfurt 0 Bayern Munich 1 (DFB Pokal)
20/09/05 Eintracht Frankfurt 0 Bayern Munich 1 (Bundesliga)
31/01/04 Eintracht Frankfurt 1 Bayern Munich 1 (Bundesliga)
TEAM NEWS
Eintracht Frankfurt
Injuries continue to plague trainer Friedhelm Funkel and it seems likely that he will only have enough players to name a 17-man squad to face Bayern with an U-19 and a U-23 player included.
Midfielder Junichi Inamoto is the latest to go down injured after suffering a torn muscle in the last minute of the weekend win over Cottbus. He joins Mehdi Mahdavikia, Benny Köhler, Chris, Ioannis Amanatidis, Bellaid, Alex Meier, Christophe Preuß, and Zlatan Bajramovic on the treatment table.
Probable Starting XI: Nikolov, Ochs, Russ, Galindo, Spycher, Fink, Steinhöfer, Fenin, Korkmaz, Toski, Liberopoulos.
Bayern Munich
There are no new injury concerns for Jürgen Klinsmann meaning that he has the same four absentees. Luca Toni will miss out on the trip to the Commerzbank Arena as his looks to recover from his rib injury. Philipp Lahm, Hamit Altintop and Willy Sagnol are the others unavailable to Bayern at the moment.
Probable Starting XI: Rensing, Oddo, Lucio, Demichelis, Lell, van Bommel, Zé Roberto, Schweinsteiger, Ribéry, Klose, Podolski
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Eintracht Frankfurt-Nikos Liberopoulos
The Greek striker has perhaps his finest game for Frankfurt at the weekend and will be the target man against Bayern on Wednesday. He will face a tough task against Lucio and Martin Demichelis, but with Bayern looking far from the solid defensive unit they were last season, Liberopoulos will fancy his chances of adding to the 15 goals Michael Rensing has conceded already this season.
Bayern Munich-Lukas Podolski Lukas
Podolski has been complaining again this season about his lack of opportunities, but with Luca Toni out with a rib injury, the German international will get a run of games in the side. He didn’t look overly impressed when Klinsmann took him off against Wolfsburg, but then he hadn’t found the net. If he is justify a place in the team, then he will have to start scoring and will want to prove himself against Frankfurt.
PREDICTION
With the injury crisis affecting Frankfurt, it would be a miracle if they were to get anything from Wednesday’s game. Friedhelm Funkel has 11 first team players unavailable, while Bayern seem to be coming into form. It should be a third successive win for Bayern and their recovery and charge up the table will be well in motion.
Eintracht Frankfurt 0-3 Bayern Munich
Mathew Burt
enjoyed reading the preview.. but i hate the ending..
"Eintracht Frankfurt 0-3 Bayern Munich" i disagree on this point
Eintracht 1 - Bayern 0