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| Post subject: Champions vow to embrace festival mood |
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22.09.2006
Saturday sees Bayern in Bundesliga action for the 69th time during the world-famous Oktoberfest beer jamboree in the city, with the champions determined to join in the party mood by defeating Alemannia Aachen (Live in English from 3.15 pm on FCB.tv Web Radio), thus making amends for last week's surprise defeat in Bielefeld, and stoking up on confidence ahead of the daunting Champions League trip to Inter Milan.
"The silver lining to the defeat in Bielefeld is that the players now know full well they have to atone with a victory against Aachen," Bayern boss Felix Magath declared ahead of the meeting with the promoted club from the far west of the country, nestling against the Dutch and Belgian borders. "We need a good result if we're to survive Milan," Magath continued, rating the Aachen clash as "more important" than Wednesday's trip to northern Italy.
Visitors in buoyant mood
The coach reckoned there was little risk of his men underestimating Saturday's opponents. "The Aachen fixture is not without its dangers. They're on a roll," Magath commented. The promoted club have won their last two matches, scoring seven times and conceding just twice. "They've had a couple of good results and they'll be full of confidence when they get here," defender Daniel van Buyten agreed.
"I'm looking for a positive reaction to last week's defeat," chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge advised. "We could easily have gone top of the table in Bielefeld. But we're not top of the table, so we'll have to tighten our grip over the next few weeks and make sure we get there."
Making up for Bielefeld
The match has thus taken on a must-win character for the double winners, although the record books contain plenty of encouragement. The last time Bayern lost at home to any promoted club came way back in August 1997 in a 1-0 defeat against Kaiserslautern. Furthermore, the Reds have only ever lost six out of 68 home matches during the Oktoberfest.
"I think we'll find Bielefeld was a one-off slip, and that we'll return to attractive, winning ways against Aachen," Magath predicted. "We're looking for the points to continue moving up the standings. If we play to our full potential, there's no way the league title will go anywhere with us having a big say."
Recall for Makaay?
As usual, Magath was unwilling to divulge his thoughts on team selection. "I haven't decided yet, and I'm going to take my time," the 53-year-old insisted. Martin Demichelis and Andreas Ottl are vying to take over from Owen Hargreaves after the England international broke a leg in Bielefeld. Roy Makaay, omitted from the side for the last two matches, is in line for a recall. "He's showed me he wants his place back," Magath commented.
Over in Aachen, Director of Sport Jörg Schmadtke voiced hopes that "Bayern's reaction to their defeat comes with a delay, preferably not until a week on Saturday." Despite their recent successes, Schmadtke felt his side were rank outsiders: "Bayern are the best there is, and we normally wouldn't stand a chance."
Probable line ups:
Bayern Munich: Kahn - Sagnol, Lucio, Van Buyten, Lahm - Van Bommel, Demichelis, Santa Cruz, Schweinsteiger - Pizarro, Makaay
Also in matchday squad: Rensing, Ottl, Salihamidzic, Podolski, Karimi, Scholl, Dos Santos, Lell
Alemannia Aachen: Nicht - Pinto, Herzig, Sichone, Leiwakabessy - Reghecampf, Plaßhenrich, Dum - Rösler - Schlaudraff, Ebbers
Referee: Markus Schmidt (Stuttgart)
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