FC Bayern Munich: Champions League Hopes Dangling by a Thread.

The 1-1 draw against Frankfurt was the right result. You read that right: against a relegation favourite a '1-1 draw' was the right result. Yet, I tend to remain delusional. On Tuesday night, I was hoping Bayern was playing Manchester United rather than Schalke. I was actually thinking that we would have perhaps beaten United despite the fact that they failed to beat Frankfurt (although that happened last year).

The draw against Frankfurt left me scratching my head about our dear top scorer Mario Gomez. There should really be a stat about conversion rate when the 'Bundesliga cannon' award is handed out. Papiss Demba Cisse deserves that cannon more than Gomez. Let me put it this way: if you have Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery as well as the extremely talented Thomas Mueller in your team, you are bound to set-up four chances each game that is going to see the ball at the back of the net with a simple tap-in. If you convert two of those chances every game, you will score 68 goals each season.

I am not saying that Gomez has scored easy goals all season long. He has scored some spectacular ones and make no mistake about that, he is immensely talented despite the fact that he has lost his way slightly since 2008. I am saying that he goes missing when he is needed desperately. Yes, he scored the equalizing penalty, but he missed when he was set-up in a situation where he just had to beat the keeper by Philipp Lahm.

This is easily Bayern's worst season since 2006-07. The team wasn't this bad even under the much maligned Juergen Klinsmann. How can a team that brushed away a very good Bayer Leverkusen side fail to beat Eintracht Frankfurt the following week? The answer to that question is easy: they forget to show up. Bayern dominated the first-half to give them credit but failed to take their chances in both halves. (ehhm, Gomez, ehmm).

They seemed to be out of ideas as the second half wore on. Despite the fact that they should have been awarded a penalty much earlier in the second half due to a foul on Thomas Mueller, the referee's decision to give the last minute penalty wasn't exactly spot-on. Bastian Schweinsteiger showed why he isn't the most popular German star by letting his temper out on more than one occasion.

On top of that, Schalke pays a visit to the Allianz Arena this week. Schalke has beaten Bayern twice this season: 2-0 in the league and 0-1 in the German Cup semi-final. Moreover, that semi-final defeat came at the Allianz Arena. Schalke might have gotten slightly lucky; nothing, though, can change the fact that Bayern didn't play well in that match.

Schalke will be coming off a horrible defeat in the Champions League semi-final. The only person who came out of that match with any credit was Manuel Neuer who prevented the score-line from being much, much worse. Neuer might not be playing on Saturday. Ralf Rangnick said that he might put Neuer on the bench for this one. This might be due to the fact that Neuer will in all likelihood be heading to Bavaria in July.

As far as injuries are concerned, Benedikt Howedes is out for Schalke. Bayern doesn't really have any injury worries to deal with. Arjen Robben comes back after serving out his suspension. Mario Gomez and Thomas Kraft sustained minor injuries in training but will be fit for tomorrow. Miroslav Klose, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Breno trained separately but are not doubtful for tomorrow.

So, how will Schalke approach this match following a minor disaster in Europe? Well, on the last two occasions, Felix Magath went with a counter-attack approach. How much does Ralf Rangnick believe in a comeback in Europe? If he doesn't, he will definitely put out a full-strength squad. As we know, Rangnick's Schalke tends to attack and that is what we will most probably see. Rangnick, as positive as he is, will perhaps feel that a comeback at Old Trafford is out of the question.

As far as Bayern's approach is concerned, Klose will perhaps drop to the bench to allow Robben to come back. Robben will be hungry and will be looking to make amends for his two match ban. However, Bayern will perhaps not be able to do so if Schalke uses the approach that Magath used.

Prediction: Bayern will not win this one. Hanover is already a point ahead in third and might extend that lead this weekend.

Final Score: Bayern 1-1 Schalke