MD 19: Bayern München 0 - 0 Vfl Bochum

[Trim]

MD19: Bayern München - Vfl Bochum
Stadium: Allianz Arena, München
Date: Tuesday, Jan 30th, 20:00 C.E.T.

Quick Bayern stats
Current League Form: WDWWL

This is definately a match we should win.
With a draw or loss, we definately say goodbye to the title.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Yes, we need a win no matter how.

Say goodbye to the title might be too much to say at this point, there are 15 games left, but we'll certainly be screwed if we don't win

[Trim]

One tried and trusted barometer indicating the relative importance of a Bayern match is a quick head-count at the final news conference. Monday witnessed seven camera crews and more than two dozen reporters crammed into the rather snug surroundings of the Säbener Strasse media room. "Are we playing Real tomorrow?" Felix Magath quipped with a wry smile. In fact, his side meet VfL Bochum on Tuesday evening (Live in English from 7.45 pm on FCB.tv Web Radio), but the champions' meeting with the side lying 15th in the Bundesliga has taken on enormous significance.

"We're all aware of the situation," the head coach remarked. Bayern lost their first competitive run-out of 2007 against Borussia Dortmund last Friday, and now lie six points off leading pair Werder Bremen and Schalke 04. Tuesday's game has thus become a must-win fixture for the Reds. "Winning is all that matters as of now. Three points, and I'm just not interested in anything else. I can't offer our fans anything more than that," Magath declared.

Up for the fight

Bayern know they need to repair a tarnished reputation in the first home fixture of the year. "I'm hoping we bounce back tomorrow," Karl-Heinz Rummenigge commented. The pre-match mood in the dressing room appears to combine determination and pent-up rage. "We intend to show the world what we're really made of," Roy Makaay reported.

VfL coach Marcel Koller warned his men to expect "a hurricane" on Tuesday evening, although the Swiss boss will be well aware Bayern have struggled more than once against relegation-threatened clubs. The champions have dropped vital points to Bielefeld, Wolfsburg, Hanover and Monchengladbach already this season.

No slip-ups

Munich are determined to avoid that fate against the men from the Ruhr valley, beaten 1-0 by fellow strugglers Mainz at the weekend and now just three points above the drop zone. "We really can't allow ourselves any more mistakes. We have to make a new start tomorrow," Makaay urged his team-mates, "we need all three points." Rummenigge called on the stars to set off on a winning streak, beginning with the Bochum clash.

Magath will take heart from Owen Hargreaves' return, as the England midfielder emerges from a four-and-a-half month lay-off caused by a cracked fibula. "I think it's the right time for him to make a comeback," the coach observed, although it remains to be seen whether Hargreaves will feature in the starting line-up.

Enforced team changes

Ali Karimi is doubtful after limping from the field in Dortmund with a stretched hamstring which has restricted him to jogging since then, but Mark van Bommel has declared himself fit after an Achilles problem. "He believes he's in a position to take part," Magath confirmed.

As usual, the head coach declined to give details of his line-up in advance of kick-off, although he insisted positional nuances were of no significance. "Tomorrow's line-up is hardly important. It really doesn't matter who we play where. You can't tell me we're not capable of beating VfL Bochum."

Three points a must

Similarly, the Munich camp was not particularly concerned about the visitors' line up. "We don't care what tactics they choose. What matters is how we play," Makaay remarked. Magath took a similar point of view: "Bochum can do whatever they feel like doing." After just four minutes in front of the media, the coach then brought an uncharacteristically brief news conference to an end with one final sentence: "We need three points - end of story."

Probable line ups:

Bayern Munich: Kahn - Sagnol, Lucio, van Buyten, Lahm - Salihamidzic, Hargreaves, van Bommel, Schweinsteiger - Pizarro, Makaay

VfL Bochum: Drobny - B. Lense, Maltritz, Butscher, P. Bönig - Epalle, Dabrowski, Zdebel, Trojan - Misimovic - Gekas

Referee: Dr. Drees (Mainz)

Bayern's record in the fixture: P30 W23 D6 L1 F90 A27

[Trim]

FT Bayern Munchen 0-0 VfL Bochum

Poor, weak performance. No organisation in the midfield. Horrible midfield and defence. No wingers, nothing. F*ckin shit!

Goodbye title.

We have dropped from 3rd place to 4th.

[Oliver_Kahn]

Damn...I think you're right, goodbye title.

What about, goodbye Magath ?

[Trim]

Jaded Bayern were again thwarted by lowly opposition on Tuesday after the Reds faded badly in the second half against a stubborn Bochum side.

A 64,000 crowd at the Allianz Arena, filled to less than its capacity for the only the second time this term, witnessed a frustrating first half from a Bayern point of view, as the home side created a string of chances but found Bochum keeper Jaroslav Drobny in irresistible form.

Lukas Podolski appeared after half-time, but the longer the champions failed to breach their opponents' packed rearguard, the more the quality of the play declined in a poor second period.

The Bavarians thus failed to atone in any way for last Friday's loss in Dortmund, and following Stuttgart's 3-2 home win over Bielefeld, drop to fourth in the Bundesliga standings with 34 points from 19 games.

Starts for Martin and Andreas

Coach Felix Magath made two enforced changes to the starting line-up from Dortmund, replacing the injured Willy Sagnol and Ali Karimi with Andreas Ottl and Martin Demichelis.

The Munich-born youngster was a straight swap for the France star at right-back, but Demichelis took over the midfield holding duties in the continuing absence of Owen Hargreaves, with Mark van Bommel restored to his favoured role down the right-hand channel.

VfL keeper on form

Both sides opened brightly enough, although the champions dominated possession and Bochum's Drobny was much the busier of the two keepers.

In the first twenty minutes, the Czech shot-stopper watched Roy Makaay's drive whistle narrowly wide, saved from Claudio Pizarro after Makaay's darting break down the left, and twice confidently held long-range efforts from Bastian Schweinsteiger, a lively presence on the night and always at the heart of his side's more fluent moves.

The defensive-minded visitors threatened only sporadically but came perilously close on a couple of occasions, Marcel Maltritz directing a free header wide from Filip Trojan's free-kick, before the former Schalke man criminally wasted a clear opening created by silky former Bayern reserve Zvjezdan Misimovic.

Unremitting pressure

That was the signal for Bayern to up the ante in the 15 minutes before the interval and chances rained in on the Bochum goal, but Drobny neutralised another Schweinsteiger drive and bravely saved at the feet of Pizarro and Van Bommel when the Reds looked poised to score the opener.

A Makaay free-kick slid just wide and the VfL keeper again denied Schweinsteiger as the crowd vented their frustration on the half-time whistle, prompting Magath to replace the subdued Pizarro with Podolski for the second period.

Poor second period

The new man was soon testing the visiting shot-stopper and Ottl blazed just wide of the upright as the Reds restarted with intent, but out of the blue, Oliver Kahn was forced into a brilliant one-handed save to deny Greece international Theofanis Gekas after Philipp Lahm was caught in possession - not for the first time in a below-par display by the Germany starlet.

Kahn held comfortably from Misimovic and Maltritz, and Podolski saw a free-kick cannon into the Bochum wall, but the play had become littered with a string of misplaced passes and Santa Cruz entered the fray for Ottl as Magath sought new impetus in the final quarter of an hour.

Makaay blasted over from a decent position with ten minutes left before Santa Cruz provided a carbon copy of the move a short time later, but sub Fabio Junior almost nicked the points for the visitors only for Kahn to claw the ball from the line.

Schweinsteiger's horrible mis-kick from a gilt-edged opening at the death appeared symptomatic of the Reds' fortunes on the night as Bochum not undeservedly put another dent in the holders' title ambitions.

Bayern Munich - VfL Bochum 0-0

Bayern Munich: Kahn - Ottl (Santa Cruz 73), Lucio, van Buyten, Lahm - van Bommel, Demichelis, Schweinsteiger, Salihamidzic - Pizarro (Podolski 46), Makaay

Substitutes: Rensing, Görlitz, Lell, Fürstner, Scholl

VfL Bochum: Drobny - Schröder, Maltritz, Yahia, P. Bönig - Epalle, Dabrowski, Zdebel, Trojan (Ilicevic 77) - Misimovic (Drsek 90) - Gekas (Fabio Junior 86)

Referee: Dr. Drees (Mainz)

Spectators: 64,000

Yellow Cards: Ottl / Epalle, Schröder

[Oliver_Kahn]

Bayern boss Felix Magath reckoned Tuesday's goalless draw against lowly VfL Bochum still represented an improvement compared to the defeat in Dortmund. "We were better and more determined today," the head coach reasoned, although he lamented the way in which his side went off the boil after half-time.

Reaction to Bayern v VfL Bochum

Felix Magath: "We were better and more determined than we were in Dortmund, and we created a number of good chances, despite our opponents packing their defence. Our failure to convert our chances made us nervous and we lost the plot. We battered away at them after that, but we created nothing clear-cut in the second half. Bochum defended well, so we have to be satisfied with the draw, because we didn't have enough ideas to create openings. Owen Hargreaves looked good in training, but yesterday he told us he still didn't feel fully fit. He'll play in Nuremberg on Friday though."

Hasan Salihamidzic: "We'll have to live with a point today. It was always a difficult match for us, because our opponents spent the entire match in their own penalty area. We have to turn our attention immediately to the next game, as we're in action again on Friday."

Marcel Koller (Bochum coach): "I'm basically satisfied. We played with a lot of passion and heart, we were tactically clever and closed down the space, and our goalkeeper made some good saves. But we did more than just defend, we had a chance or two of our own, and we might even have pulled off a major surprise."