FC Bayern Munchen News

Pep Guardiola’s side have a 100 per cent record in the Bundesliga so far and our tipster expects them to maintain that by cruising to victory on Tuesday

Bayern Munich will look to maintain their perfect record in the Bundesliga when they travel to take on stuttering Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Tuesday evening.

Pep Guardiola’s side are red-hot favourites to continue their unblemished start to the league campaign with William Hill offering just 2/7 (1.29) on the Bavarian giants collecting all three points here.

Freiburg have garnered just a solitary point from their opening three league fixtures and the enormity of the task facing Christian Streich’s side is reflected in the chunky 9/1 (10.0) quote from William Hill for a home victory. The draw is chalked up at 9/2 (5.50) with the same firm.

Freiburg have leaked eight goals in just three league matches thus far this term and their defensive deficiencies could be ruthlessly exposed by the domestic and European champions when these two sides meet on Tuesday.

Given the gulf in class between these two sides, there is some value in backing the 8/13 (1.62) quote from William Hill for Bayern (-1) in William Hill’s handicap market.

Better value, though, can be found in backing Pep Guardiola’s men to keep a clean sheet against their struggling opponents.

It should be noted that Bayern have conceded just one goal in three league outings thus far this term and, with that in mind, William Hill’s 6/5 (2.20) quote for Bayern to win to nil looks to be overly-generous and should be backed accordingly.

Bayern, too, boast a vast array of attacking talent within their ranks and the in-form Mario Mandzukic is likely to pose problems for Freiburg’s leaky rearguard.

The Croatian striker has scored two goals in his opening three Bundesliga fixtures so far this term and is sure to prove a popular selection with punters at 5/2 (3.50) in William Hill’s first scorer market.

Another player likely to cause Freiburg heartache is German international Thomas Muller. The 23-year-old striker has yet to score this season but looks to represent excellent value at a juicy 3/1 (4.0) with William Hill to break his duck for the season with the opening goal of the game on Tuesday.

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Willie Duncan is a freelance sports journalist. Willie, from Edinburgh, has covered Scottish football for over 10 years and he specialises in football betting markets from across Europe. You can also follow Willie on Twitter

The European champions will be looking to maintain a winning start to their Bundesliga title defence but the Spaniard has warned of the hosts’ formidable home form

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola insists that his players will have to be on top of their game if they are to overcome Freiburg on Tuesday night.

The Bavarians currently boast a 100 per cent record in the Bundesliga, having won their opening three games of the season.

However, Guardiola is taking nothing for granted against a Freiburg side that finished fifth last term.

“We want to continue our run,” the former Barcelona coach is quoted as saying by his club’s official website. “But they achieved unbelievable things last season.

“Freiburg generate huge pressure when they attack. They are highly capable in the build-up but also very aggressive in defence.

“I know how tough it will be. We’ll have to play well, because if we don’t, we won’t win.”

Midfield ace Bastian Schweinsteiger is also extremely wary of the threat posed by Christian Streich’s men, even though they have only picked up a point from their first three games of the new campaign.

“Tactically, they’re very disciplined,” the Germany international mused. “They are also very strong at home.

“They’ve come on really well under [coach] Christian Streich. We’ll have to concentrate hard right from the start and we might need to be patient.

“The most important thing for us at the moment is to take the points and keep a clean sheet.”

Bayern’s trip to Freiburg has been brought forward because of the European champions’ involvement in Friday’s European Super Cup clash with Chelsea.

The goalkeeper is eager to make amends for his side’s Champions League final defeat to the Blues, while explaining the differences between Pep Guardiola and Jupp Heynckes

Manuel Neuer says Bayern Munich are hungry for revenge ahead of their Uefa Super Cup clash with Chelsea.

The Bavarians were beaten on penalties by the Blues in the 2012 Champions League final, before lifting the trophy after beating Dortmund back in May.

But the goalkeeper admits there is still a score to settle with the Premier League side and says he will be doing all he can to gain revenge.

He told Uefa.com: “It’s a unique chance for us players to win this trophy,” he said. “It’s a final, and a match against the Europa League winners, and that’s Chelsea. We still have something to clear with them, and take revenge, so hopefully we can win in Prague.”

The 27-year-old then gave an insight into the pressure Bayern were under ahead of last season’s Champions League final and admits the prospect of defeat at Wembley was unthinkable.

He added: “[Winning the Champions League] was very important. We would have had a very difficult time if we hadn’t done it. Last season we were very motivated, we wanted to finally achieve a lot of success and managed to win the treble, but we could have never lost the final against Dortmund.”

Pep Guardiola has since taken over from Jupp Heynckes as Bayern boss and guided the treble-winners to wins in all three of their opening Bundesliga matches, with the latest a 2-0 victory over Nurnberg.

And Neuer explained the differences between the former Barcelona boss and Heynckes, having got to know the Spaniard in recent months.

“He’s certainly a totally different person to Jupp Heynckes,” he said. “Jupp had a lot of experience from coaching many big clubs in Europe and he had a good feeling for different situations.

“We’ve not played under Pep for that long, but he’s clearly an advocate of attractive football, just like Jupp.”

It is still far too early to predict who will win which league across Europe. There is the generic top four or five teams that will be there come the end of the season but very rarely do we see an open title race in Europe’s top leagues.

In years gone by, some sides have dominated their domestic league and managed to add a cup competition along the way but it’s not often that a team dominates every competition they enter into.

Last season, while many fans were hoping a club from England might win, Bayern Munich won the Champions League,swept away their domestic rivals in the Bundesliga, before going onto win the DFB Pokal Cup.

In Europe, the Bavarians bounced back from their failure two seasons ago to beat local rivals Borussia Dortmund, after beating heavy favourites, Barcelona, in the previous round. With Pep Guardiola coming into to replace JuppHeynckes the pressure is on to deliver the same feats from last year, and the Spaniard himself has to work hard to show he can manage in a different country.

The transfer market has seen them add to their squad with Mario Gotze and Thiago coming in to strengthen an already impressive squad.

With Europe’s elite trying to build themselves, Bayern will be under the cosh to deliver once again. Dortmund will be on their tales domestically, while Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Manchester United will all chase them in the Champions League.

Guardiola and his men have their work cut out from the off as they look to defy the odds but their team is more than capable of repeating their success. With a young squad and ambitious manager, it is scary to think how far they can go in the future.

Goal picks out the best performers from across the German top flight after a typically thrilling weekend of action over the whole country

One of the most hotly-anticipated Bundesliga seasons in recent years is living up to its billing. Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich continue to go from strength to strength, but Schalke are in crisis, losing two of their first three games.

And there were plenty of stellar performances across Germany worth saluting in Goal‘s Team of the Week.

Heinz Muller is one of two Mainz players who makes the cut after they continued their 100 per cent start to the season with a 2-0 home triumph over Wolfsburg.

He is joined by club team-mate Nikolce Noveski, who was a rock at the back. Alongside the Macedonian are Hiroki Sakai of Hannover, victorious over Schalke, and Philipp Lahm, who grabbed an assist in Bayern’s win over Nurnberg.

Franck Ribery was on the end of his skipper’s cross, while Arjen Robben added gloss to the Bavarians’ win with a superb effort late on. Kevin Volland helped keep up Hoffenheim’s sound start to the campaign, while Lars Bender and Sidney Sam were both on song in Leverkusen’s 4-2 win over rivals Borussia Monchengladbach, the latter netting twice.

Stefan Kiessling was on the scoresheet for the Werkself, while Mame Biram Diouf grabbed the decidsive goal in H96’s win over Schalke.