VfL Bochum vs. Bayern Munich: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream, TV Info
Bayern Munich visit VfL Bochum on Wednesday as the three-time defending German league champions continue their quest to reclaim the DFB-Pokal.
Pep Guardiola's side downed holders Wolfsburg in October and edged Darmstadt in the round of 16 to book their place in the quarter-finals. And now they face an away game against one of the competition's two remaining teams from the 2. Bundesliga.
The former Barcelona trainer will likely find Wednesday's match anything but a foregone conclusion, however, with his defense in particular ravaged by injuries. Despite playing with a makeshift back line, Bayern nonetheless have managed to keep clean sheets in their last two fixtures.
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Bochum may be second-division opposition for Bayern, but Christian Streich's side could prove tricky on home soil. They earned an impressive victory over Freiburg—the team in prime position to regain promotion to the top flight—at the rewirpowerSTADION on Friday.
That win should have provided a big boost of morale for Bochum, who are closing in on third place and a spot in the playoff that could see them restored to the Bundesliga.
Only two teams in the second division have a better defensive record than Gertjan Verbeek's side, who have also kept clean sheets in each of their Pokal matches this season.
In a one-off, Bayern and Bochum will have it all to play for. Anything can happen in 90 minutes, so both sides will have to be especially keen to avoid mistakes.
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 10
Time: 7:30 p.m. GMT / 2:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. local time
Venue: rewirpowerSTADION, Bochum
TV Info: ESPN Deportes (U.S. only), BT Sport Europe (UK only)
Live Stream: Watch ESPN (U.S. only), BT Sport Player (UK only)
Form Guide
| Bochum | Bayern Munich |
| Freiburg: Win | Leverkusen: Draw |
| Schalke: Loss | Hoffenheim: Win |
| Leverkusen: Win | Hamburg: Win |
| Monchengladbach: Win | Karlsruhe: Loss |
| Hertha BSC: Win | Hannover: Win |
Predicted Lineups
Bochum
There have been no new reported injuries since the weekend, so Verbeek will be able to field the same lineup that featured in Bochum's win over Freiburg on Friday.
Possible Bochum starting XI: Riemann; Celozzi, Fabian, Bastians, Perthel; Hoogland, Losilla; Bulut, Eisfeld, Terrazzino, Terodde.
Bayern Munich
Bayern will be without the services of injured defenders Medhi Benatia, Javi Martinez and Jerome Boateng, as well as attackers Franck Ribery and Mario Gotze. However, Arturo Vidal (according to Der Westen, in German) is expected to return to action after being substituted off with a knock over the weekend, as is new signing Serdar Tasci.
Possible Bayern Munich starting XI: Neuer; Lahm, Tasci, Badstuber, Alaba; Vidal, Alonso; Robben, Muller, Costa; Lewandowski.
Players to Watch
In 2007, Manuel Riemann gave the performance of a lifetime as Wacker Burghausen pushed Bayern to penalties. Now at Bochum, he'll aim to impress, as will Stefano Celozzi against his former club.
Other threats in the Bochum team include former Arsenal man Thomas Eisfeld and serial scorer Simon Terodde.
Xabi Alonso will be keen to make amends after being sent off over the weekend and will surely be one to watch for Bayern.
Joshua Kimmich has been in great form lately, and it will be interesting to see if he continues to start and where he is used.
New signing Tasci is also worth a look if he is given his first match in a Bayern shirt.
Key Battles
Simon Terodde vs. Holger Badstuber
Terodde is Bochum's top scorer this season, with 10 goals scored in 19 games in the 2. Bundesliga. He also has three more strikes in as many Pokal matches, having scored a hat-trick in the first round against FSV Salmrohr.
If Bochum are to put the ball into Manuel Neuer's net, the 27-year-old is their most likely man to get the job done.
Holger Badstuber has turned over a new leaf as of late, it seems, proving the doubters wrong with a series of good performances. The center-back's fitness has been a concern for over three years, but he looks to be in better shape now than he's been since his first anterior cruciate ligament tear in 2012.
If Bayern are to win the Pokal and contend for the Champions League, they'll need Badstuber at his best. To their fortune, the defender looks to be up for the task.
Stefano Celozzi vs. Douglas Costa
A native Bavarian and a Bayern Munich player from 2005 to 2008, Stefano Celozzi will have an extra bit of motivation as he takes on his former club.
The right-back was part of the German under-16, under-18 and under-21 national teams, and he will need to find a bit of the spark that made him such a prospect as a youth player if he is to keep Douglas Costa quiet.
After a failed experiment over the weekend in which he was played in a central role, Costa is most likely to revert to his favored position on the left wing. There, his blistering pace is better put to use.
The Brazil native has proved devastating in one-on-one situations all season long and could be an absolute nightmare for Celozzi.
Odds (courtesy of Odds Checker)
Bochum: 21/1
Draw: 41/5
Bayern Munich: 3/19
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