FC Bayern Munich: Werder Is Sent Packing As Freiburg Comes Next To the Arena

Bayern hasn't lost any of their last four matches. They have drawn one and won three. They put an end to Werder Bremen's Cup dreams this week.

Bayern 2-1 Bremen (German Cup)

Bayern was the more dominant side in the first half but created very little. Werder took the lead early in the second minute when Claudio Pizarro found the back of the net from a Marko Arnautovic cross. Bayern equalized when Bastian Schweinsteiger poked in Toni Kroos' shot. The goal would have been offside had Mikael Silvestre not stood on the by-line haplessly. Every Werder player thought the goal was offside until they all noticed Silvestre.

Werder absolutely crushed Bayern in the second half. They missed three one-on-ones and Arnautovic hit the bar from a free kick. They had a legitimate goal by Sebastian Proedl ruled out for a petty foul that only the referee knew about.

Even Louis Van Gaal felt that the goal was valid and had a laugh and said that if FIFA allowed video replays, his side would have been in trouble. Bastian Schweinsteiger then scored a blasted from 30 yards with about 15 minutes to go to end the contest.

Bayern vs Freiburg

Both sides currently have seven unfit players. Louis Van Gaal, in his effort to bring back Miroslav Klose too quickly, delayed the German's return by atleast three weeks. Klose injured his hamstring in training. The blame is more on Klose as he wanted to be back too early and Van Gaal gave in to his requests.

Mark Van Bommel, Arjen Robben, David Alaba and Breno are still on the sidelines. Franck Ribery will return two weeks later while Diego Contento might make it to the bench. Ivica Olic and Daniel Van Buyten will most probably start on the bench. Rouven Sattelmeier is also currently injured.

Robin Dutt's hard-working outfit might not be able to call on Cedric Makiadi and Jan Rosenthal. Freiburg has done very well this season and are sitting pretty in mid table after achieving some good results. Also, Papiss Demba Cisse, the current leading scorer of the Bundesliga, is part of their team. Felix Bastians, the young German has played well so far. Hanno Balitsch will also be out while first choice keeper Simon Pouplin is perhaps out for the year.

Bayern needed some magical goals late on to beat Freiburg twice last season. The scoreline was 2-1 both times in favour of the Bavarians. This year, with the current state of the team, it is indeed difficult to have any idea about how Bayern will fare.

Prediction: Luck is back on Bayern's side as evidenced by their recent victories over Cluj and Werder as well as the draw against Hamburg. This could finally be the match in which Toni Kroos strikes from long distance to give his side all three points.

Final Score: Bayern 2-1 Freiburg