Bayern Munich: The Tussle With Bayer; Transfer Rumours, Steven Pienaar

Bayern and the equally inept Bayer Leverkusen both drew against their opponents on Match day 23. Bayern was involved in a Bavarian derby and drew because of Louis Van Gaal's inexperience in these derbies.

Nuremberg 1-1 Bayern

A rather tired looking Bayern side took to the field. They created chances, though, and duly took the lead through Thomas Muller. Muller himself created the goal and finished it off with Gomez supplying the assist. In the second half, the Nuremberg attack left the entire Bayern defence in its wake. Eric Choupo Mating's shot was scrambled by Hans-Jorg Butt. Ilkay Gundogan duly equalized from his second attempt after Lahm blocked out the first for his first Bundesliga goal.

Bayern missed at least three clear-cut chances. This habit of being unable to finish chances almost cost them against Fiorentina, but Mr Ovrebo saved their blushes. Van Gaal has to address this issue sooner or later.

Van Gaal took Arjen Robben off in the first half. Had the Dutch man been there, Bayern might have been looking down on Leverkusen at the moment. Instead, there is still a single goal difference between the two sides, with Leverkusen holding the top spot after 23 matches.

Van Gaal has to learn that Nuremberg hardly play like relegation battlers in derbies.

Bayer 2-2 Werder

Bayer's attack flowed through Daniel Schwaab and Tranquillo Barnetta's wing. Stefan Kiessling just didn't bring his best game on the day. His strike partner, the Swiss Eren Derdiyok, who resembles Viktor Krum from the fourth Harry Potter movie, was fired up and opened the scoring with a beautiful long range free kick.

Rene Adler after a few minutes must have been hoping that Joachim Low was sleeping in his bed. The German keeper allowed Naldo's free kick to go through in between his legs. Claudio Pizarro scored by putting the loose ball across the line away from Adler's reaching hands.

When Toni Kroos struck in the second half, it seemed as if he had caused his current owners two points in the table. Per Mertesacker had other ideas though. He headed in a measured Marko Marin lob in injury time to rescue the draw.

Miro Klose and the Offside Goal

Some journalists are trying to say that Klose is a cheat. This is what he had to say about that controversial strike:

“I have to admit it was a close call. If it’s given, it counts. I’ve ‘scored’ in the past, where I’ve not been offside, but it’s been disallowed anyway. These things even themselves out.”

He is correct in saying so. In the group stages, an effort by him was kept out by Michael Ciani's hand in the match against Bordeaux, and the referee failed to give the penalty. Bayern went on to lose the game, 2-0.

Ovrebo's Confession

Mr Ovrebo confessed that he took the incorrect decision on Wednesday night. This is what he had to say:

"Based on the pictures and the feedback we've received, it's clear we should have realised it was offside. But we unfortunately did not realise that on the pitch.

"Based on the advice I got from my assistant, I chose to approve the goal—and it is my responsibility. I always get just the advice of an assistant referee, but I make a final decision. But the pictures later showed that it was perhaps not so wise."

Steven Pienaar

Bayern are reportedly trying to lure away Everton's midfield maestro from Merseyside to Munich. However, the midfielder feels at home in Merseyside and does not want to move yet.

Bayern's search for a midfielder is absolutely pointless. Toni Kroos is coming back from Leverkusen after the World Cup. It will be outrageous to see an extremely talented youth academy player left on the sidelines. Any Bayern fan would admit that they would like to see him play rather than Franck Ribery.

Science on Bayern's Side

Deutsch Welle recently published a theory made by a Physics professor and his colleagues. According to their research, Bayern have a 55 percent chance of lifting the Bundesliga trophy this year.

I am sure Juup Heynckes has other ideas. If Leverkusen remain unbeaten in their next game, they will break a record held by Bayern. Bayern currently have the longest unbeaten streak in the Bundesliga of 23 matches. They achieved this when none other than Jupp Heynckes was at their helm. Heynckes will be looking to smash that record, and alongside that, send Bayern tumbling down the staircase.

Christian Nerlinger

The Bayern director of sport didn't have a busy weekend. So he decided to spend his spare time taking snipes at Real Madrid and their transfer policy.

“In terms of signings, we have a steady handed policy here for next summer. At the moment, we have not thought about any sort of large transfers.

“We are not like Real Madrid, who just spend like crazy, and in large quantities."

Europe

As a side note, all the German teams did well in Europe, with Werder being the exception. Werder, despite controlling the game, lost in Holland to Twente 1-0.  Villarreal and Wolfsburg battled to a 2-2 draw at El Madrigal. Hamburg beat PSV Eindhoven via a penalty dispatched by, no, not Nistelrooy, but Marcell Jansen.

Even Hertha Berlin salvaged a 1-1 draw against high flying Benfica in Germany. Stuttgart will play Barcelona on Tuesday, and according to Jens Lehmaan, they have a good chance to progress.

Bayern and Bayer are breathing down each other's necks. Standing in between them is someone who makes the difference; someone called Toni Kroos.