FCB - General Talk

[Oliver_Kahn]

An Andreas Ottl header saw Bayern make the third round of the German Cup without ever shifting out of first gear against courageous but limited opponents.

It was a good game, nice to see Ottl with a nice game.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Nobody knows how many photographs have been taken of Bayern Munich players and officials, but no fewer than 70 professional photographers were issued with accreditation for the DFB German Cup tie against Kaiserslautern. "For this reason, it's a fitting and credible story," according to Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, as Germany's leading club and world-class camera manufacturer Nikon announced a new marketing alliance.

The parties unveiled the deal at a news conference before kick-off on Wednesday evening. Nikon will take the status of premium sponsor until 2009, with an option to extend the agreement. "Bayern are always looking for global partners. Nikon fulfil this requirement," club chairman Rummenigge continued. "The partnership is an important component of our activities in Asia."

Joint objective

Bayern are set to play regular exhibition matches in Japan and other parts of Asia, which the German champions and the camera company will use "to bolster the partnership," Rummenigge explained. "We both share the goal of making it to the top," Nikon Europe BV general manager Hugues Chatelain commented.

For the German domestic market, the club's new partner will provide a service station plus trial equipment for professional sports photographers at selected Bayern home matches, complemented by a range of promotions directed at ordinary fans including a scaled-down photographic studio at the Allianz Arena, where fans can be pictured with the original championship shield and German Cup.

Goals in focus

The stars in red shirts will understandably remain firmly in the focus of Bayern's new premium sponsor. "I hope all our goals arc captured on film using Nikon cameras in the future," Rummenigge smiled.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Reaction to Bayern v Kaiserslautern

Felix Magath: "Kaiserslautern were good in the first half and we were poor. We failed to put them under pressure, and we created far too little in front of goal. We upped the pace in the second half, and fortunately we were rewarded with an early goal. But after that, we neglected to add a second, because we could have made it into the next round more emphatically. We had three or four situations on the break, and we should have made a great deal more of that. The crowd was unhappy, and so was I."

[Oliver_Kahn]

Noon on Friday at the Säbener Strasse: Felix Magath is the last man to board the silver team bus which already bears the first team squad, with driver Sandra König turning the motor over ready for departure. A few dozen die-hard fans applaud as the vehicle negotiates the narrow exit gate and sets off for the Limmerhof Hotel on the outskirts of Munich.

The squad normally retire to their pre-match retreat following a late-afternoon training session, but on this occasion the intensive preparation phase began with lunch at the club's favoured location. "We're working specially hard on getting ready for Saturday's match," Magath explained as his men made ready for a must-win fixture at home to Eintracht Frankfurt (Live in English from 3:15 pm on FCB.tv Web Radio).

Rummenigge's rallying cry

Indeed, the match has something of a make-or-break character for Bayern's domestic ambitions this term. With leaders Werder Bremen away to struggling Mainz on Friday, anything other than a win for the champions could see the northerners pull up to six points clear. "We have to make up lost ground in the championship as quickly as possible," chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge warned.

Munich find themselves in the unusual role of playing catch-up following last week's defeat to the current leaders. "It's time to pick up speed, set off in pursuit of Bremen and put them under pressure," Magath remarked. That means claiming all three points against Eintracht, who proved tough Cup final opponents five months ago when Bayern edged home by the only goal, but fell to a comprehensive 5-2 defeat on their last league visit to Bavaria.

In search of fun factor

A 69,000 capacity crowd would dearly love to see their heroes win in style, following the dour Cup encounter against Kaiserslautern in midweek. "I believe we won't give the crowd any reason to jeer on Saturday," the coach insisted. "I hope we win and send the fans home happy," Martin Demichelis agreed.

"Football and fun!" is the lead story in this week's match programme, and Mark van Bommel has adopted the statement as a target. "It was like that for an hour against Hertha, but that's not enough," the Dutch midfielder told the pre-match news conference. "We mustn't repeat the mistakes we made against Kaiserslautern." Added Magath: "we know we have to improve."

Draw specialists Eintracht

The visitors, who like Bayern are still competing in three competitions, share with Nuremberg the distinction of remaining undefeated in the Bundesliga so far this term. "That should be warning enough for us to give it our total concentration, get stuck in with resolve and determination, and not take Eintracht anything less than seriously," Rummenigge admonished.

However, the men from Hesse have only won one match this season, a 3-1 home victory against Bayer Leverkusen. All four of Eintracht's away games have ended 1-1, and Frankfurt have defeated Bayern just once in the last 24 meetings between the sides. That was a 2-1 triumph on 18 November 2000 - when Eintracht were coached by a certain Felix Magath.

Almost six years later, the same head coach will be forced into at least one line-up change on the news of Lukas Podolski's ankle injury and three-week lay-off. Magath could revert to a 4-4-2 formation, but is more likely to opt for a straight swap by introducing Roque Santa Cruz for the former Cologne man. Reserve striker Stefan Maierhofer has been called up to the senior squad as cover for Podolski.

Probable line-ups:

Bayern Munich: Kahn - Sagnol, Van Buyten, Demichelis, Lahm - Van Bommel, Ottl, Schweinsteiger - Pizarro, Makaay, Santa Cruz
Also in matchday squad: Rensing, Salihamidzic, Maierhofer, Karimi, Dos Santos, Lell

Eintracht Frankfurt: Nikolov - Ochs, Kyrgiakos, Vasoski, Spycher - Huggel, Fink - Streit, Meier, Thurk - Amanatidis

Referee: Florian Meyer (Burgdorf)

Bayern's home record in the fixture: P36 W28 D5 L3 F94 A41

[Oliver_Kahn]

I expect a victory today.
We are missing Lucio and Podolski, both injured, but the team has solutions.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Bayern beat Frankfurt 2-0.
They are currently 2nd

[Oliver_Kahn]

Maierhofer played the last 5min of Bayern's victory against Frankfurt.

Position Forward
Date of Birth 16. August 1982
Nationality Austrian
Height / Weight 202 cm / 93 kg

[Oliver_Kahn]

He scored alot of goals for Bayern's II team, so I belive he might have a good future.
I expect Magath to play him more often.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Reaction to Bayern v Eintracht Frankfurt:

Felix Magath: "I thought we played very well indeed in the first half, although it took us a while to get going. We looked confident after taking the lead, but we ought to be beating opponents like these far more easily, and not just declare ourselves satisfied at 2-0. Especially in the last half hour, my players had an opportunity to prove they're capable of scoring a hatful against teams other than Spartak Moscow. You're going to miss a penalty every now and then. When we go to Schalke, I want to see us play the way we did in the first half."

[Oliver_Kahn]

Magath expecting fireworks

However, the Portuguese outfit will not give in without a fight, as defeat in Munich would seriously endanger their chances of making the last sixteen. "They'll be looking for a result as they're still battling for second place," Magath observed, predicting an open and attacking game - although that would absolutely be to the home side's taste.

The scenario is certainly destined for a different character compared to the rugged defensive battle in Lisbon, as the Reds defended their narrow lead with only ten men. "We rode our luck at their place," Mark van Bommel admitted, "they're difficult opponents."

[Oliver_Kahn]

After back-to-back victories in the German Cup and the Bundesliga, Bayern aim to continue their winning streak in the Champions League when they take on Sporting Lisbon in their fourth Group B fixture on Tuesday evening (Live in English from 8:30 pm on FCB Web Radio). A victory would not only seal Munich's place in the first knockout round, it would almost certainly be enough to win the section.

"Simply qualifying for the last sixteen is no longer our target. We want to finish top of the group," Felix Magath declared following a tight but deserved 1-0 victory in the Portuguese capital two weeks ago. "We want to win the group, because of the home advantage in the knockout round," striker Roy Makaay confirmed.

Closing in on best-ever start

The Bavarians currently lie five points ahead of second-placed Lisbon in the standings and only need a draw to seal a berth in the last sixteen, but the Reds want more than that: no German team has ever opened a Champions League with four straight victories. The Reds currently have maximum points from three games with seven goals for and none conceded, and can easily surpass their best four-game record set nine years ago, when they garnered nine points with 10 goals for and two against. "Three points will be enough," Magath observed, "that would give us 12 points with two games remaining. That should give us the confidence we need to finish the group in first place."

"We intend to put on a show for the fans," declared defender Daniel van Buyten, who will again be partnered by impressive Lucio stand-in Martin Demichelis. Should Bayern defeat Sporting and Inter Milan fail to take all three points from their early evening trip to Spartak Moscow, the Germans would be through to the knockout round for the 10th time overall, and the seventh time as group winners.

Fürstner in squad

The sides were separated by Bastian Schweinsteiger's strike in Portugal, but the midfielder is suspended on Tuesday evening. Magath declined to reveal who would step up to replace the 22 year-old: "There are a couple of candidates. We probably won't decide until Tuesday evening."

The long injury list at the club sees first team call-ups for reserves Stefan Maierhofer and Christian Saba, with young talent Stephan Fürstner set to resume squad duty following a successful return from injury.

Probable line ups:

Bayern Munich: Kahn - Sagnol, Demichelis, van Buyten, Lahm - van Bommel, Ottl, Salihamidzic - Pizarro, Makaay, Santa Cruz
Also in matchday squad: Rensing, Karimi, Dos Santos, Lell, Görlitz, Saba, Maierhofer

Sporting Lisbon: Ricardo - Abel, Tonel, Anderson Polga, Tello - Paredes - Nani, Joao Moutinho, Carlos Martins - Alecsandro, Liedson

Referee: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)

[Oliver_Kahn]

They call him "basketballer" or "Tall Guy". He was discovered playing in a league "where they can probably just about lace their boots without falling over," according to acerbic reserve boss Hermann Gerland. His lanky 6 ft 7 inch frame makes him an almost comical, disjointed figure at times. He is a chef by trade. And yet Stefan Maierhofer will start Bayern's Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday evening as one of the home substitutes.

The 24-year-old Austrian received a rapturous reception from the die-hards watching the Munich reserves take on their VfB Stuttgart counterparts at the Grünwald stadium on Sunday, but just 24 hours earlier, the unfamiliar name was doing the rounds of a 69,000 full house at the Allianz Arena. The beanpole of a man came on for his Bundesliga debut two minutes from the end of the home side's 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Overwhelming experience

"It was even a shade better than I'd imagined," the player told fcbayern.de afterwards. "You're down there, and they're singing your name from the South terrace - it's almost too much. It's just incredible that I got the two minutes, just getting on the pitch was fantastic."

With Lukas Podolski set for a lengthy lay-off, Maierhofer could be in for plenty more of the same. Coach Felix Magath has called him and reserve team-mate Christian Saba into the senior squad for the Lisbon showdown. "It's important for the team to see the occasional player among their ranks who no-one's really noticed before," the head coach remarked.

Rapid rise

Some 16 months ago, the only man who had really noticed Maierhofer might well have been Gerland, who recruited the "Tall Guy" from Austrian fourth division outfit SV Langenrohr. "I thought to myself, what's this guy all about? He was already a certain age but not the finished product," the reserve boss smiled. "But I thought to myself: we'll knock him into shape."

Not much more than a year later, Stefan now captains the Bayern reserves and lies second in the third division south scoring charts with eight goals in 13 matches. He has come on dramatically in terms of technical ability and tactics, and has always been a coach's delight for his commitment and passion. "He throws himself into everything and is incredibly willing to learn," Gerland explained.

Dreams of Euro 2008

He is ambitious too. "My main target is to appear for my country on home soil in 2008," he reveals. On current form, perhaps he will end up leading the Austrian line at a European Championship.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Bayern drew 0-0 with Sporting on the CL's 4th round.
Bayern are throw to the knockout stage.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Reaction to Bayern v Sporting Lisbon:

Felix Magath: "Obviously I'd rather have seen us take all three points, but we had too many problems. We definitely didn't have the deal starting line-up. I thought Sagnol would be able to compensate for losing van Bommel, but it didn't work in the first 45 minutes. We were a little unsettled by the team changes and never got going. That was definitely our worst Champions League performance so far, but we still had a few presentable chances in the second half. At the end of the day, we never reproduced our form from the previous matches. I'm pleased we've kept another clean sheet, we've still not conceded a goal, and that we're through to the next round. We're still in a very good position. We have the home game against Inter, and there's no reason we shouldn't win in Moscow."