Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund
Allianz Arena, Munich
Wednesday, 30-09-2020 @9:30pm
Bayern Munich the chance to add more silverware to their collection on Wednesday evening when they take on Borussia Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup at the Allianz Arena.
Hansi Flick’s side have won four major honours already this year, but they lost to Dortmund in this fixture last season and enter the game on the back of a heavy defeat.
This match will be staged behind closed doors, which is a first for the competition, due to the coronavirus infection rate in the state of Bavaria.
Just when it was looking as though Bayern were pretty much invincible, they were sent crashing back down to earth by Hoffenheim in a chastening defeat on Sunday.
Fatigue inevitably played a part in the 4-1 loss at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena, with Robert Lewandowski benched for a league game for the first time in two years.
That defeat ended Bayern’s 32-match unbeaten run since last December, a streak that has seen them win the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Champions League and UEFA Super Cup.
Flick will not be too downbeat, with the loss coming three days after being taken to extra time by Sevilla in the Super Cup, but his players have to quickly pick themselves up.
Dortmund also enter this match on the back of a league defeat at the weekend, going down 2-0 to Augsburg on Saturday in what was a hugely disappointing team display.
BVB have been second best to Bayern in recent times in terms of major honours, although they did come out on top in the 2019 DFL-Supercup thanks to Paco Alcacer and Jadon Sancho.
That was Dortmund’s sixth triumph in this competition and ended a run of three successive victories for Bayern, who are the record seven-time winners and six-time runners-up.
Luvien Favre would of course love to see Lewandowski benched once again, but Flick is expected to go with his strongest possible XI on Wednesday, as will Dortmund.
Consistency is proving to be a major issue for Favre’s men, having followed up each of their last three league victories with a defeat.
That has not been a problem for Bayern – the shock loss to Hoffenheim aside – and they will enter this one-off match as favourites to add yet another trophy to their collection.
Lewandowski is the DFL-Supercup’s leading all-time scorer with five goals and will almost certainly replace Joshua Zirkzee in attack on Wednesday.
Leroy Sane has started all three matches for Bayern this season but picked up a knock at the weekend and is unlikely to play a full part here.
That frees up a spot for Champions League final matchwinner Kingsley Coman, while Leon Goretzka is another pushing for a recall in central midfield.
Dortmund, who lost home and away to Bayern in the league last season, could bring in Julian Brandt and Marco Reus on the back of the defeat to Augsburg.
Sancho and Erling Braut Haaland seem certain to retain their places in attack, with the latter scoring two goals in three outings so far this campaign.
Elsewhere, Manuel Akanji should start in defence alongside Mats Hummels and Emre Can due to the injury absence of Lukasz Piszczek and Dan-Axel Zagadou.
Bayern Munich are contesting the Supercup for the 14th time. They are the record seven-time winners and six-time runners-up. Lewandowski is the Supercup’s five-goal leading scorer. He scored four times in six appearances for Dortmund against Bayern, and has one in three in meetings with his former club. Flick oversaw a 4-0 win over Dortmund on his Bundesliga debut in the Bayern Munich hot seat. He has only lost three of his 39 competitive matches at the helm (W35 D1). Dortmund won their sixth Supercup in 2019, ending a run of three successive Bayern Munich triumphs, thanks to a 2-0 win. Aged 17 years and 93 days on the night, Jude Bellingham can usurp Gianluca Gaudino as the youngest player, Julian Draxler as the youngest winner and Christian Pulisic as the youngest scorer in Supercup history.
