Greuther Furth – Bayern Munich Preview: Heynckes' troops begin Bundesliga campaign against Bavarian rivals

Greuther Furth got their season under way in disastrous fashion last week, crashing to a 2-0 defeat to third-tier Kickers Offenbach in the DFB-Pokal with two men being sent off, and coach Mike Buskens is set to make one change as they prepare for the visit of the Bundesliga’s most successful club.

Edgar Prib was one of the players to receive his marching orders in the Sparda Bank Hessen Stadion, and could be replaced by Heinrich Schmidtgal on the left-hand side of a four-man defence. The other change could see former Kaiserslautern midfielder Athanasios Petsos step in for Sebastian Tyrala to make his Bundesliga debut for his new side.

Midfielder Robert Zillner is set to miss out with a knee problem, as is defender Kevin Kraus, while striker Frank Ohandza is a long-term absentee with a broken leg. Gerald Asamoah and Christopher Nothe will lead the line, with Sercan Sararer, who turned down a move to Turkey this summer, slotting in on the right-hand side of midfield.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich are still without a number of players as they get their league campaign started. Full-backs Rafinha (ankle), David Alaba (foot) and Diego Contento (foot) remain sidelined, meaning that young midfielder Emre Can will continue as a makeshift left-back alongside more experienced defenders Philipp Lahm, Jerome Boateng and Holger Badstuber.

In midfield, Bastian Schweinsteiger is still struggling for fitness after sustaining a pre-season ankle injury, and is likely to continue on the bench, with Toni Kroos filling his berth next to Luiz Gustavo in front of the defence. Of the usual triumvirate behind the striker, Franck Ribery has been taken sick during the week, meaning that Xherdan Shaqiri may start on the left wing.

Mario Mandzukic will continue up front after scoring three goals in his first two games since joining the club from Wolfsburg this summer as Mario Gomez continues his recovery from ankle surgery.

  • However, the Bavarian minnows had won three national championships, in 1914, 1926 and 1929, before the change in format.
  • Wolfgang Hesl, Lasse Sobiech, Zoltan Stieber, Baba Rahman, Athanasios Petsos, Baye Fall and Tobias Mikkelsen are all line to make their Bundesliga debuts for Furth.
  • The last time these two sides met was in the 2009-10 DFB-Pokal quarter-final. Louis van Gaal’s Bayern cruised to a 6-2 victory en route to winning the competition, with Thomas Muller (pictured) scoring twice.
  • Xherdan Shaqiri netted his first goal for his new club in last weekend’s 4-0 drubbing of another Bavarian team, Jahn Regensburg. He is set to make his first start since his summer move from Basel.
  • The last time Die Roten went three seasons without winning a Bundesliga title was between 1990-91 and 1992-93. They pipped Kaiserslautern to the 1994 title by a mere point.

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