FCB - General Talk

[Magical20]

how can their nickname be FCB .. it shouldve been FCBM .. FCB Is fc BARCELONAAAAAA :P VISCA EL BARCA :P .. they stole our name

[Magical20]

and how can bayern be behind schalke?!

[Oliver_Kahn]

Bayern > Barcelona

[Oliver_Kahn]

Originally Posted by Magical20

and how can bayern be underneath schalke?!

Because Bayern have 3 consecutive lossses away from home.

[Magical20]

gha than they're not better than barça didnt you see us win the cup from them at the beginning of this season??

didnt you see OLIVER KAHN standing still while ronnie shot the ball right in the net ???

or did you just block that out, kahn my friend ?

[Oliver_Kahn]

No tbh

[Magical20]

Ok than

[Oliver_Kahn]

Originally Posted by Oliver_Kahn

Bayern beat Stuttgart at home, 2-1 the final score.
They are now in 4th place, 3 pts away from first place team Schalke.

The champions came from behind to beat the leaders on Saturday thanks to a first-half purple patch featuring goals from Roy Makaay and Claudio Pizarro.

There was a real buzz about the Allianz Arena ahead of the heavyweight clash of the weekend, but the Red majority in the 69,000 full house were stunned into silence when in-form marksman Mario Gomez handed the visitors an early lead.

Events last weekend in Leverkusen showed Bayern are eminently capable of turning a match on its head, and strike pair Makaay and Pizarro duly fired the home side into a half-time lead.

Deisler returns

The second period was a less satisfying affair as Bayern concentrated on defending their lead against the eager but uninspired leaders, as the stubborn Reds defence restricted their opponents to long-range and speculative efforts.

The best news of all was midfield wunderkind Sebastian Deisler's substitute appearance for a few brief seconds at the end, holding out the prospect of an exciting few months ahead.

The win, combined with results elsewhere in the Bundesliga, sees Bayern remain in fourth on 23 points from 13 matches, three behind new leaders Schalke but just adrift of Bremen and Stuttgart.

Reds unchanged

Following the maxim "never change a winning team", coach Felix Magath fielded the side which fought back to seal a dramatic 3-2 win against Bayer 04 last Saturday. There was also a place on the bench for Deisler, the gifted but injury-prone midfielder's first appearance in the matchday squad for more than eight months.

Bayern opened purposefully but were rocked on their heels in the eighth minute when Stuttgart's first foray upfield produced the opening goal, Brazil strilker Cacau and Christian Gentner combining superbly to release Gomez for a ten-yard sprint and clinical finish.

The Reds had recovered their composure by the quarter-hour and VfB keeper Timo Hildebrand was a busy man dealing with two Pizarro drives and a Martin Demichelis header.

Marksmen hit target

The Argentine defender was forced to clear over his own bar after running into difficulties against Cacau and Oliver Kahn saved well from the same player's skidding effort, but the action soon switched back to the other end as Mark van Bommel and Makaay each directed a shot across the face of Hildebrand's goal.

The overdue equaliser finally arrived on 27 minutes when Philipp Lahm swung over a fine deep cross off his weaker left boot for Makaay to soar above Cote d'Ivoire full-back Arthur Boka, at 5 ft 5 in one of the shortest players in the league, and power his first headed goal in 15 months past Hildebrand.

Bayern maintained the pressure and completed a fine comeback after 37 minutes following van Bommel's grittily determined burst down the right, the Dutch battler shaking off three defenders before threading a cross through a forest of legs to Pizarro's feet. The Peru ace, just a yard from goal, duly tapped his fourth of the season into the empty net.

Content to defend

It had been a good quality first 45 minutes, although the standard slipped after the break as Bayern contented themselves with repelling the visitors' frequent but rarely penetrating raids.

Van Bommel just failed to round off a slick counter-attack initiated by Pizarro and Makaay on the hour, before VfB sub Daniel Bierofka swerved a shot narrowly over the bar just seconds after coming on, but there was otherwise little by way of goalmouth action until a flurry right at the end.

Pizarro spooned over from five yards with the goal at his mercy, but the real news was Deisler's symbolic appearance a few seconds from the final whistle as the double winners held out in reasonable comfort to register another crucial three points.



Bayern Munich - VfB Stuttgart 2-1 (H-T: 2-1)

Bayern Munich: Kahn - Sagnol, van Buyten, Demichelis, Lahm - van Bommel, Ottl, Schweinsteiger (Lell 72), Salihamidzic - Pizarro (Santa Cruz 89), Makaay (Deisler 90)

Substitutes: Rensing, Saba, Scholl, Dos Santos

VfB Stuttgart: Hildebrand - Hilbert, Tasci, Delpierre, Boka - Gentner (Meira 54), Pardo, da Silva (Streller 79), Khedira (Bierofka 62) - Gomez, Cacau

Referee: Mr Weiner (Giesen)

Spectators: 69,000 (capacity)

Goals: 0-1 Gomez (8), 1-1 Makaay (27), 2-1 Pizarro (36)

Yellow Cards: Van Bommel / Pardo, Cacau

[Oliver_Kahn]

An unusual challenge calls for an unusual solution: on Sunday morning, the squad chose to forego their normal, lush training pitch number one at the Säbener Strasse, electing to work out on the artificial turf normally reserved for the club's youth section.

The background to the decision is Wednesday evening's Champions League trip to Spartak Moscow, where the official playing surface is a similar form of artificial turf. Coach Felix Magath has directed his men to train on the junior pitch on Monday, before Tuesday evening's official final session at the Luschniki stadium, a last opportunity for the Bavarians to acquaint themselves with the unusual surface.

Runners-up spot for Spartak

For their part, Spartak sealed the runners-up spot in the Russian top flight with a 4-3 away victory over FK Rostov on Saturday. The win came with a bitter taste, as there is still one match to play and Spartak lie only three points behind champions and city rivals CSKA. However, Bayern's opponents can no longer dislodge CSKA from top spot, as they have won fewer matches and this is the criterion used to separate teams tied on points in Russia.

Igor Titov and Roman Pavlyuchenko struck a brace apiece for the Muscovites at the weekend, although observers reported a less than watertight defensive performance. Spartak have failed to win in the Champions League so far, and must beat Bayern on Wednesday to preserve their already slim chances of emerging from the group. The nature of the playing surface can hardly be rated a disadvantage for the home team.

Dramatically different

"Obviously it's an advantage for them and a disadvantage for us," Mark van Bommel declared on Sunday, although Magath was more optimistic: "I reckon we'll come to terms with the artificial turf, and I believe three sessions on it should be enough." Technically able players such as Sebastian Deisler, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Willy Sagnol should be able to profit most from the lightning-quick surface.

"We have to play more balls to feet," Magath explained. "Artificial turf is totally different," van Bommel observed, "your movements are totally different. It's another world." The Dutch enforcer made no secret of the fact he would rather be playing on natural turf: "I don't like it. You should play football on grass."

Reduced grip

Nevertheless, van Bommel insisted the artificial turf should not be set up in advance as an excuse. "We've just got to acclimatise as quickly as possible. We mustn't use it as an alibi." The change would be more noticeable for the goalkeeper than the outfield players, goalkeeping coach Bernd Dreher commented: "It's a very different bounce, especially when it's wet. And the keeper get less grip off the surface, so diving is a lot more difficult."

[Oliver_Kahn]

I expect Bayern to win this quite easily.

[Magical20]

oohh btww.. think about this: you reckon kahn's the greatest IN THE WORLD.. but we beat you guys at the gamper ! and than .. you think we cant win from bremen ?! .. their keeper is not better than kahn... sooo mayb you wanna think about that...

[Oliver_Kahn]

I trust the German teams.

[Magical20]

how loyal

[Oliver_Kahn]

Effective football

[Magical20]

Passion