(Football news) The visitors have pulled five points clear of league leaders Bayer Leverkusen and are hoping to avoid a third straight loss. The hosts are presently in 14th position in the league rankings after 21 games played.
The 11-year winning streak of Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga is being seriously threatened by Bayer Leverkusen, a team that is unstoppable this season. Bayern Munich is a club used to enjoying success at home.
After being soundly beaten by RB Leipzig in the DFL Supercup and suffering an embarrassing DFB Pokal elimination at the hands of third-tier FC Saarbrucken, The Bavarians are now facing the genuine possibility of not winning any trophies in a single season for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign.
Arguably, the biggest prize of all, the Champions League, is now likely the main priority for Bayern, but their hopes of progressing in the continental competition took a major blow in midweek when they were beaten 1-0 by Lazio in the first leg of their round of 16 tie.
The shock defeat in Rome came just four days after a humbling 3-0 defeat against Die Werkself, which has left Bayern trailing the unbeaten Bundesliga leaders by five points and marked the first time they have lost back-to-back matches since 2019.
Thomas Tuchel, who replaced Julian Nagelsmann to deliver trophies, is now undoubtedly under huge pressure to deliver this weekend, especially with the likes of Jose Mourinho, among others, waiting in the wings.
However, facing a team that The Bavarians defeated 7-0 for the second year in a row when they met in the first half of the season back in September, this is one of the finest matches Tuchel could have hoped for to try and uplift the emotions in the camp.
But with Bayern’s confidence eroding, Thomas Letsch will see this as the ideal opportunity to take on the defending league champions and will probably have a sincere belief that his team can win this game.