Bavaria Approaches. For Real This Time.

By: Abby | December 14th, 2007

Okay, so talking about Bavaria last time didn’t much help. Clearly, the Franconians were upset that I’d called them Bavarian, and showed it by taking it out on Hertha. This time, though, the opponents are actually Bavarian. It’s in their name. Also, they go to Oktoberfest in lederhosen.

I am, of course, talking about the mighty Bayern Munich. They’ll be coming up to the Olympiastadion for the last day of the first half of the season. After the simple task of taking on Bayern, Hertha will have seventeen days of rest and then a training camp in Tenerife. I’ll take it.

What can be said about Bayern Munich? They’re the biggest, richest team in Germany. They have big-name internationals in their lineup. They can afford to not play Lukas Podolski. Hell, they can afford to suspend Oliver Kahn for back-talking. Even if you don’t know much about the Bundesliga, you know what Bayern Munich is and what they’re about.

Bayern, having spent a load of money in the summer, were expected to steamroll the league. They’re certainly on top, although it hasn’t been the walk that has been expected. They’ve drawn in places that haven’t been expected and generally the play lately hasn’t been impressive. Their UEFA Cup record isn’t great despite the expectation that they would destroy it. They’re fighting among themselves and signs are pointing to them not being as dominant as the world expect. This might be a sign that we can get a point or more from them.

Plus, they drew with Duisburg. Even we beat Duisburg! Away!

However, they are still Bayern Munich, and signs point to them winning. Our form has been dreadful as of late, and while Bayern haven’t been setting the world of football aflame they’ve been doing better than us. Plus, they’ve been criticized of late, and to a team like Bayern that’s just as likely to make them angry as it is to do anything else. And knowing our luck, this will be the game where Bayern re-affirm their title credentials.

Our injuries are still what they were, but I haven’t heard about any new ones. Small mercies.

In other news, the signing of Brazilian striker Raffael, currently at Lulu’s old club FC Zürich, looks more and more likely. He’s been at the top of Lulu’s shopping list since the Swiss pitched up at Berlin, and it might even happen. He’s said that Berlin is where he wants to go, and the FCZ people are coming to Berlin to talk, but there does seem to also be some interest from FC Moscow and Fiorentina, as well as a disagreement over the 22-year-old’s price. I’m crossing my fingers on it, though- I’m trusting Lulu’s knowledge of the player, and we need someone besides Pante to score goals.

The game is actually on GolTV tomorrow, and I’m excited to watch. It’ll be the first time since we played Hamburg that I’ve actually watched. Here’s hoping for at least a not embarrassing result!