Champions League First Leg Preview: FC Bayern Munich vs Manchester United

Date: 30 March 2010

Venue: Allianz Arena, Munchen

A battle which promises much more than just information for the history books, will be taking place in the south of Germany on Tuesday. These two teams have plenty of history between them. However, their recent fortunes have differed.

Bayern's strangle hold over the Bundesliga title has loosened in recent years. In fact, in the last three seasons, Bayern have claimed the title only once, in the '07-'08 season. United on the other hand have won the last three Premier league titles.

Recent form

United have not been short of confidence in recent weeks. Their sheer will power has helped them win matches in which they haven't performed their best. Their recent results have seen them climb to the top of the table in the race for the Premier League title. They face Chelsea next week in a match which could decide the destination of the title.

In the Champions League, United have won all their away games. They lost an unimportant home game against Besiktas and drew against CSKA Moscow. More so, they won their most recent match in Germany, a 3-1 demolition of Wolfsburg by Michael Owen. They also beat "Die Wolfe" at home, 2-1.

Bayern have every reason to be worried about their current form. They have lost their last two league encounters, and haven't won away in the league for a while. In fact, Bayern last won away in the Bundesliga in the early days of February against Wolfsburg.

Their most recent away win will give them some confidence. Bayern recently beat Schalke, away in the German Cup, at the Veltins Arena in extra time to reach the final.

In the Champions League, Bayern have managed to score only three times at home.  However, they came back from the dead twice to advance to the latter stages of the competition.

Recent results

Bayern:

Bayern 1-2 Stuttgart

Schalke 0-1 Bayern (a.e.t)

Frankfurt 2-1 Bayern

Bayern 2-1 Freiburg

Fiorentina 3-2 Bayern

United:

Bolton 0-4 United

United 2-1 Liverpool

United 3-0 Fulham

United 4-0 AC Milan

Wolves 0-1 United

Team news and predicted lineups

Bayern:

Mario Gomez has returned from an injury layoff and will perhaps start the match on the bench. Arjen Robben is doubtful, as he suffered a minor strain while passing the ball against Stuttgart. Presumably, Louis Van Gaal will do his best to make sure that his "star man" starts the game.

Bastian Schweinsteiger is suspended for the first leg. Martin Demichelis returns after suffering multiple facial fractures after a collision with Michael Ballack in a friendly.

There is a certain amount of unrest in the Bayern camp ahead of the clash, as Ivica Olic is unhappy with the fact that he is playing well but Van gaal hardly allows him to finish matches. Miro Klose is unhappy about the fact that Ribery and Robben receive far too much attention. This is what they both had to say:

Olic: "It is unbelievable and I am unable to understand the decisions. I know the success of the team is the main priority, but I thought I would be a player able to help the team. I am not angry, I am disappointed. I plan to speak to the manager and ask him why this is happening. I cannot be satisfied with something like this."

Klose: "Arjen and Franck are two quality players. Both have the ability to win a match on their own. I would prefer, though, for people to notice that there are nine other players on the pitch and these players are out there doing the dirty jobs for the team. A team is not made up of just one or two, winning is always a team effort."

Predicted lineup (4-4-2): Jorg Butt- Contento, Van Buyten, Badstuber, Lahm- Ribery, Van Bommel, Demichelis, Olic/Robben- Muller/Olic, Klose

United:

Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand will definitely start after shaking off minor knocks. Ryan Giggs returned against Bolton. Owen Hargreaves will not play any part in a match against his former club.

Predicted lineup (4-5-1): Van der Sar- Neville, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra- Valencia, Fletcher, Scholes, Park, Nani- Rooney

Tactics

Louis Van Gaal will presumably make Van Buyten mark Wayne Rooney. If the lineup I predicted is correct, he will probably allow Demichelis to move forward. Van Bommel will have to take on part of Bastian's duties which include using loose balls to great advantage and helping out the Bayern defence.

The match might have a cagey opening as Bayern and United both don't exactly start matches well all the time. Robben and Ribery will perhaps be asked to give the United full backs a go, and Klose and Olic will perhaps spend their nights bothering Vidic and Ferdinand.

Antonio Valencia and Luis Nani have to be stopped. The Bayern defenders and the defensive midfielders will have a hard time trying to prevent these two from delivering crosses for Rooney. Hans-Jorg Butt will have to be sharp.

The "long ball theory" might be used by Van Bommel at the beginning. However, United will deal with each long ball which he sends in easily, Van Bommel might actually be seen trying to pass the ball.

Previous (Competitive) Meetings

'01-'02 Champions League Second Group Stage:

United 0-0 Bayern

Bayern 1-1 United

'00-'01 Champions League Quarterfinals:

Bayern Munich 2-1 United

United 0-1 Bayern

'99 Champions League Final:

United 2-1 Bayern

Prediction

Bayern's recent form has been nothing short of abysmal. However, the last time that Bayern actually failed to score in a match was at the beginning of November. They lost 2-0 to Bordeaux that night at the Allianz Arena. Thus, Bayern always have a goal in them even when they are playing poorly. The team is defensively poor though.

The most recent meeting between these sides resulted in a win for Bayern in a friendly after a penalty shoot-out.

The defence has shipped in four goals in the last three games. On the other hand, United is scoring goals for fun at the moment, Without Arjen Robben in the starting line-up, Bayern will not always have that element of "unpredictability" about them. On the other hand, they thrashed Juve in Italy 4-1 without Ribery. Robben came on only for the last twenty minutes, when Bayern were already 3-1 up.

While Miro Klose can't hit a bus, Wayne Rooney can hit a goal from anywhere and everywhere. Bastian's suspension will definitely hurt Bayern.

Van Gaal has a 100 percent winning record against English teams over two-legged ties. Hans-Jorg Butt believes that belief will be an important factor for Bayern.

It is very difficult to predict a scoreline for this game. I would like the readers to do so as I am not quite sure how this match will turn out to be.

Final Score: Bayern 1-2 United