Bayern Munich: A Wake Up Call From FCK, Champions League Draw And More

When Thomas Mueller missed a one on one against Tobias Sippel with Miro Klose and Ivica Olic to pass to next to him, the fans knew that it might turn out to be "one of those days" for Bayern.

FC Kaiserslautern 2-0 Bayern

Despite the fact that Bayern played an average game they came away with nothing due to their inability to convert their chances. In 66 seconds, Bayern conceded twice after 36 minutes had been played. Ivo Ilicevic started the party at the Fritz Walter Stadium by opening the score with an amazing strike. In truth, Philipp Lahm should have tracked him down. The second came within seconds when FCK hit Bayern on the break. The ball passed right in front of Holger Badstuber to Srdjan Lakic. Badstuber did not react and Lakic doubled Bayern's troubles.

Miro Klose and a half-fit Ivica Olic squandered chances but the FCK defenders deserve credit for holding their own against the Bayern stars. Louis Van Gaal took off Diego Contento for Daniel Pranjic, Olic for Kroos and Mario Gomez for Klose but Bayern could not make any headway. Ilicevic was sent off in injury time for a foul on Thomas Mueller following a second yellow card.

Not a single Bayern player can lay claims to having played a good match. The back-line was given more scares by FCK later in the game. Bastian Schweinsteiger lost his temper towards the end and Mark Van Bommel didn't have a great day. Daniel Van Buyten and Holger Badstuber have to improve when Bayern play against Werder on September 11.

Argentine Drama

Martin Demichelis has been given time off from squad duty by Louis Van Gaal in order to allow the Argentine to mentally prepare himself for a place on the bench and not on the starting line-up. He was not on the bench against FCK. There were rumours of offers coming from Sevilla and Chelsea but Bayern put a high price tag of roughly 10 million euros or so on him. Also, Bayern are not open to a loan deal for the Argentina and at the moment, it seems like he will be staying in Munich.

Jose Ernesto Sosa has finally moved away from the club to Napoli in Italy. While Sosa showed glimpses of brilliance, especially under Jurgen Klinsmann and Jupp Heynckes, he never really fulfilled his potential and will now try his luck at Napoli.

Champions League Draw

Louis Van Gaal admitted that Bayern were quite lucky to get a "tricky" but not the "toughest" draw. Bayern were drawn in Group E against Serie A runners-up AS Roma, Romanian champions CFR Cluj and Swiss outfit FC Basel. AS Roma happens to be Bayern chairman Karl Heinz Rummenigge's former club while Basel are coached by former Bayern player, Thorsten Fink. Bayern recently played Basel in a friendly in January and beat them 3-2.

Bayern has a very good chance of progressing from this group but will have to remain focused. Cluj caused a few upsets in their previous CL campaign and Bayern will have to be aware of them while Basel boast the likes of Alexander Frei who previously played in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund. Roma will be the toughest challenge. Roma's title hopes were ended by the same team which ended Bayern's hopes of a treble last season, Inter Milan.

When Van Gaal arrived last year, the squad was in turmoil as the rumours about Franck Ribery wouldn't stop coming. Bayern signed Arjen Robben who was nominated for the European midfielder of the year recently but missed out due to compatriot Wesley Sneijder's wonderful year. Robben perhaps deserved it more as his magic truly saved Bayern in the round of 16 and quarter finals last year.  The only stadium where he failed to work his magic on was unfortunately the Santiago Bernabeu.

This year, despite Robben's absence, Bayern play in a 4-5-1 and understand Van Gaal. Despite the loss to FCK, Van Gaal will perhaps get the team working together after the international break. Bayern's defence is the only concern. A bit of an improvement in that sector will mean that the offence doesn't have to continuously bail out the defence.

Arjen Robben's Injury

Bayern's sporting director Christian Nerlinger recently commented on Robben's injury and said that the Dutchman will perhaps not return to action prior to the winter break. This is a bit of a blow for Bayern as the Dutchman is perhaps their most valuable player. Robben aggravated an injury he was carrying at the World Cup.

The Fight for Co-efficients

With the exception of Schalke who have been drawn in Group B against Lyon, Benfica and Hapoel, the German teams will face a direct fight for co-efficients against Italy in the Champions League. Werder have been drawn against Tottenham, FC Twente and the holders, Inter. Werder vs Inter and Bayern vs Roma will be vital concerning the Bundesliga's challenge to take Italy's fourth spot in the CL. Werder survived a thriller against Sampdoria and came away with an aggregate victory of 5-4 following Claudio Pizarro's extra time goal. The future for Werder looks bright with the rise of Marko Marin, Aaron Hunt and Marko Arnautovic.

No such drama took place in the Europa League draw. Bayer Leverkusen have been drawn with Atletico Madrid, Rosenborg and Aris of Greece in Group B. Borussia Dortmund have been drawn against Karapty Lviv, PSG of France and Sevilla in Group J while Stuttgart have been drawn against Getafe, Odense and Young Boys in Group H.

Rival Watch

Bayern were not the only title contender to lose this weekend. Leverkusen lost a goal fest, 3-6 against Gladbach at the Bay Arena, Schalke lost at home, 1-2 to Hanover and Stuttgart lost 1-3 at home to Dortmund. However, Hamburg came away with an away win, 1-3 against Eintracht Frankfurt. Bremen also won at home against Koeln, 4-2. Koeln's second goal came in injury time. Lukas Podolski put in a good performance for Koeln while Marko Arnautovic put in an excellent one for Bremen.

That's it for today. Bayern return to Bundesliga action on September 11 while they begin their CL campaign against AS Roma at the Allianz Arena on the 15th of September.