FC Bayern Munich: Stalemate, Champions League, and More

The week has been an interesting one for Bayern—however, a second week has gone by without a win.

Bayern vs Werder

The previous stalemate in this tie in Munich came more than two decades ago. However, this was the case in Munich again on Saturday. Bremen gelled better than Bayern as a team. Bayern created chances but seemed to lack the finishing touch.

The national team players looked somewhat tired. Thomas Mueller and Franck Ribery just could not finish and Tim Wiese was on top form and so denied the Bayern stars time and time again. Add to that the fact that Louis Van Gaal experimented with Miro Klose, using him as a "No. 10," and you will get the picture.

The fact is Bayern isn't playing that badly; this is the start of the season and they will get by when it comes down to "crunch time."

Martin Demichelis finally played in place of Daniel Van Buyten in the second half and showed everyone that he wants to win back his place. Bayern's best player was Hans-Joerg Butt who denied Marko Marin and co. time and time again.

Champions League

For Bayern, the campaign kicks off on Wednesday against AS Roma, who were beaten 5-1 by Cagliari. The defeat was embarrassing despite the fact that Nicolas Burdisso was sent off in the 22nd minute for Roma. Franck Ribery will be suspended for this week following his alleged assault on Lisandro Lopez in the semifinal of last season's Champions League.

Louis Van Gaal has said that he will make changes; perhaps Toni Kroos, the energetic German, will start and either Ivica Olic or Miro Klose will head to the bench in favour of Mario Gomez. At the moment, there seems to be very little reason to start Gomez though due to his current form.

Youth Development

Bayern has formed a youth development partnership with SpVgg Unterhaching of the third division. Current SpVgg coach Klaus Augenthaler is a former Bayern coach and played a big part in negotitating the deal. The SpVgg players will be able to move up to the Bayern first team if they are good enough. Bayern will compensate monetarily if Unterhaching manage to gain promotion to the Bundesliga.

That's about it for this week. On an ending note, Franck Ribery has said that he has forgotten about Real Madrid and is completely dedicated to Bayern until 2015.