Bayern Ready To Test Drive the Audi at the Allianz Arena

“Mainz are stronger than many people think.”

This is what Louis Van Gaal had to say about his team's next opponents in the Bundesliga. Van Gaal is absolutely correct. The last time Bayern played Mainz, they beat the Bavarians by a 2-1 score. Bayern's only goal was scored by Nikolce Noveski, a Mainz player.

Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger have been test driving the newest version of the Audi; Audi are one of Bayern's sponsors and decided to make good use of these two German stars. I have to hand it to these two, though; they looked great in suits, and it actually seemed like they were having fun.

You can see the drive at this link.

Mainz are eighth in the Bundesliga, and if they retain their position until the end of the Bundesliga season, they will break a club record; the club has never placed higher in the Bundesliga than 11th.

Mainz are certainly not a dull team. They contain the likes of Andreas Ivanschitz, Jan Simak, and Eugen Polanski. They have in Aristide Bance (pictured above), a forward who can trouble any defender.

Maik Franz, the journeyman defender of Eintracht Frankfurt did not enjoy dealing with the Burkina Faso native. He even made racial comments to Bance. Bayern are already aware of the trouble he can cause. He scored the winner in the game on Matchday 3.

However, Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel does not intend to attack the Bavarians from start to finish this time.

“Ideally, we’d field a 5-5-2 formation, so we’d be nice and tight but could still hit them on the break, and we’ll park the team bus in the penalty area, right in front of the goal,” Tuchel said.

Van Gaal has a full-strength squad to choose from, but he does not intend to let Franck Ribery start just yet. Also, the Bayern coach is carrying an injury rather than his players this time. This is because he tried to escape from Arjen Robben last weekend after the Dutch man ran toward his countryman to celebrate his winner against Bremen.

“He was too quick for me," Van Gaal said. "I strained the muscle due to the cold, and maybe I’m just a bit old these days."

Bayern are planning to launch plenty of attacks and drive through the Mainz defense.  Van Gaal perhaps wants revenge as Mainz handed him his first loss as Bayern coach. "Die Roten" thus have no plans of losing the game and giving Leverkusen more bright ideas about winning the championship. Leverkusen are not prepared to admit defeat and are for once prepared to battle for the championship.

My prediction for the game is a 3-1 win for Bayern.

I will end today with a quote from Bayern's director of sport, Christian Nerlinger: “Let’s be clear about one thing: we’re still second in the table behind Bayer Leverkusen."