FCB - General Talk

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Saturday, March 3rd

15:30 GMT+1 -> The match: Bundesliga, week 24: Hertha Berlin - FC Bayern

Sunday, March 4th

11:00 GMT+1 -> Training

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A crop of injuries has struck the Bayern squad some three days ahead of the Bundesliga trip to face Hertha Berlin. Owen Hargreaves, Claudio Pizarro and Roque Santa Cruz either played only a minor part or sat out Wednesday training altogether, with the three all rated doubtful for the pivotal clash in the German capital.

Coaching duo Ottmar Hitzfeld and Michael Henke voiced particular concern over Hargreaves. "It's a bit more of a problem than I originally thought. I can't run properly, so it's not at all easy," the England international told a scheduled news conference. In a repeat of events on Tuesday morning, Owen was forced to break off the Wednesday session and report for treatment.

Vital team member

The problem stems from a knock on the left ankle sustained by Hargreaves in the Champions League trip to Madrid. "We're going to treat it intensively, and we're hoping we'll get it fixed in time," the player reported. He joined Pizarro for a light workout in the afternoon.

Hitzfeld is similarly hoping the medical unit can restore the 26-year-old to fitness for the weekend fixture. "Owen Hargreaves is an important man in front of the back four. He's solid on the ball and uses his speed to recover possession. He works very hard and pops up everywhere. He's a good foil for Mark van Bommel, who's left free to support the strikers."

Ismaël making progress

Apart from the concern over Hargreaves, the champions may be without South American strike duo Pizarro and Santa Cruz. Pizarro played a restricted role in the morning session with a knee problem, while Santa Cruz missed training altogether on Wednesday after twisting a knee. However, the Paraguay man is expected to resume the full programme on Thursday.

Meanwhile, there was more good news of Valerien Ismaël as the Frenchman continued to take part in the full squad programme. "He's making a good impression," assistant coach Henke told fcbayern.de. "He's getting better with every session, and he's already tackling again."

The player himself expressed delight at rejoining the squad after a lengthy injury lay-off, "although naturally I'm still some way off peak form." The centre-half is not working to any set timetable for a comeback. "We haven't set a date," Henke confirmed.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Demichelis to play, most likely.

However, I would like to see Ottl there

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^ Ottl against Madrid? No way! Ottl was shit against Inter, he can't handle big teams. Demichelis? God, please no.

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Owen Hargreaves and Claudio Pizarro continue to be rated doubtful for Saturday's Bundesliga trip to face Hertha Berlin. The England midfielder and the Peru striker were unable to play a full part in Thursday training, and neither completed the session.

"Owen's continuing to struggle with an ankle injury, so he's a doubt for Saturday," head coach Ottmar Hitzfeld confirmed afterwards. The boss will observe the pair in Friday afternoon's last pre-match workout at the Säbener Strasse before coming to a final decision.

Precautionary break for Lucio

The news of Roque Santa Cruz was more positive, as the Paraguay hitman came through Thursday's session unscathed. "He'll make the squad," Hitzfeld confirmed. Santa Cruz had spent the last few days strengthening the muscles around the knee on which he had surgery to repair cruciate ligament damage in the autumn of 2005, the coach reported.

Lucio was absent from the training ground on Thursday. "He has a minor adductor problem after completing four sessions in the last two days," Hitzfeld explained. However, the Brazilian had missed the session purely as a precautionary measure. "He used today for regeneration, but I'm expecting to see him at final training tomorrow," the head coach declared.

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Looks like Santa Cruz will be replacing Hagreaves in midfield, yup.

[Oliver_Kahn]

That would be suicide.

[Oliver_Kahn]

I prefer Ottl to Demichelis.

Maybe Karimi or even Scholl could start ?

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I just learned from FCB.de that Santa Cruz will most likely start..
Well, he's starting the Hertha match in place of Hargreaves, so he might probably start against Madrid aswell, if Hagreaves can't make it. It depends on Santa Cruz's appeareance in Hertha match though. If he shows poor performance, Demichelis will most likely play.

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^ FCB.de confirmed it aswell, lol.

Well, I remember Santa Cruz had a great match in midfield against Stuttgart when Ballack (still part of us) missed the match (can't remember why).

[Oliver_Kahn]

I don't know, van Bommel can't cover as much as a real DM.

We would be very exposed playing with 3 strikers

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^ Santa Cruz will play midfield mate!

[Arsenal007]

it was made for T-Red but, if anyone else wants to use it they can:

Wallpapers

[Oliver_Kahn]

Originally Posted by T-Red

^ Santa Cruz will play midfield mate!

I know, but he isn't a midfielder, so we will eventually have 3 strikers.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Ex-Profi Paul Breitner soll FC Bayern beratend zur Seite stehen

Der ehemalige Fußball-Weltmeister Paul Breitner soll dem deutschen Rekordmeister Bayern München künftig mit Ratschlägen zur Seite stehen. Der frühere Bayern-Profi «berät uns ab und zu», sagte Münchens Manager Uli Hoeneß im «kicker» (Donnerstag). Sein Mitstreiter aus der Weltmeister-Mannschaft von
1974 werde «von Fall zu Fall gebeten», eine Meinung über Spieler abzugeben, so Hoeneß über den externen Berater. Breitner bestritt für Bayern München 285 Bundesligaspiele und erzielte dabei 93 Tore. Der Europapokal-Sieger von 1974 hatte vor einer guten Woche an der Champions-League-Auswärtsreise der Bayern nach Madrid teilgenommen.