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Doesn´t matter. Still Schalke will be winners.

Ismael is back for this match. Could this ring a change in formation? When Bayern won the Champions League in 2001, they used a 3-5-2 formation, the same formation Magath wanted to use at the start of the season, before Ismael got injured.

Hitzfeld has already said that he's got some tricks up his sleeve, could this be it, that we'll be reverting back to 3-5-2? I can see it happening, especially with the suspension of Van Bommel in the CL.

Against Schalke we could play like this:

Kahn - Ismael, Lucio, Van Buyten - Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Van Bommel, Hargreaves, Sagnol - Podolski, Makaay

And against Milan we could switch Van Bommel with Salihamidzic, who will help exploit Milan's physical deficiencies. If I was Hitzfeld, at this stage I would give it a try. It might be the turning point, and it will help us launch attacks faster. Additionally, Lahm and Schweinsteiger will be playing closer to each other, and we all know that they really understand each other.

Any thoughts on this?

I've been thinking about the possibility of 3-5-2 as well, and though I'd have to say it's worth a try, Ismael's relative lack of match fitness worries me. Going from the reserves to Schalke is one thing, and then Milan away is a whole other beast. But I'd love for Ismael to prove me wrong, even if he lines up in a 4-4-2. Van Buyten hasn't been too great recently, especially (I assume by the score) against Portugal a few days ago, so maybe this is Ismael's chance for a big comeback. 5 in the midfield might be cool, I know Lahm can step up to that challenge. I'd sooner put Brazzo in my midfield 5 than Willy though, going on recent form. Willy seems to have lost his crossing power for some reason. Whatever, I just hope they get some things happening up front, we need these points!

Rather than Sagnol having lost his crossing power, we have lost our header finishing power when Ballack left. In set pieces, Sagnol is still giving a lot of assists with his crosses, but in the run of play without a Lucio or Van Buyten up front, we're losing out on the headers and poor Willy isn't looking so good. That's why Bayern are interested in Toni, because they know he can convert headers.

That's true as well, Ballack was always good for headers. But I still maintain that Willy has sent too many balls way over everyone's heads and out for goal kicks recently. Though he is still good from corners for whatever reason.

I agree that he's not performing at the same level as last season, and same thing for Lahm. But rest assured that it's not fully his fault If Bayern do manage to get Toni, then we'd have someone who would be able to convert the headers.

it's a must win against schalke, there's no 2 ways abt that !!

& oh, the 3:5:2 would make Bayern look more solid, remember the good old days

This picture says it all

FC Bajern wrote:This picture says it all

cool....i would prefer one with a man utd or real madrid logo!

I'm ready for the game and this one will be on TV. Yeah!! Anyone else going to watch the game live?

tracylynn wrote:I'm ready for the game and this one will be on TV. Yeah!! Anyone else going to watch the game live?

lol for me...sopcast online as usual

I have to decide whether to watch it at home alone on the projector or at the Bayern club.

MUTU wrote:I have to decide whether to watch it at home alone on the projector or at the Bayern club.

id choose projector dude..if things get bad (we play bad) go home lol

I don't have the option of watching it at a bar because the bars in my town only show the EPL. Since I'm going on break on Monday, I'm just gonna lie in bed and watch the game. It's Saturday, so why get out of bed? LOL!!

I´m not sure I´ll watch it. I have a feeling we won´t win.