adminBERLIN. – Modest German Bundesliga soccer side Augsburg, enjoying their best ever start to a season, will hope history repeats itself today when they play host to the mighty Bayern Munich in a Bavarian derby.
Last season Augsburg ended Bayern’s record 53-game unbeaten run when they beat Pep Guardiola’s side 1-0 at the SGL Arena in April, thanks to a Sascha Moelders strike. That result may have only come after Bayern had wrapped up the title, but it gives Augsburg reason to believe they can once again spring a surprise against the dominant force not just in the region, but in the whole country.
Midfielder Tobias Werner acknowledged that it will be “a mammoth task” for his side, but added: “It’s one we’re looking forward to. We’ve already shown we can cause Bayern problems.”
Bayern make the short 70-kilometre trip fresh from wrapping up their Champions League group-stage campaign with a routine 3-0 victory against CSKA Moscow in midweek. The reigning champions have dropped just six points, and conceded only three goals, in an unbeaten start to the campaign and are seven points clear of VfL Wolfsburg at the top of the table.
However, Augsburg, who were promoted to the top flight for the first time in 2011, are enjoying a superb season in their own right under Markus Weinzierl.
The 39-year-old, who spent time on the books at Bayern as a player in the 1990s, has taken his team to third place, the highest the club has ever been in the Bundesliga, thanks to a club-record run of four consecutive wins.
Elsewhere, Wolfsburg, after a decisive Europa League trip to Lille on Thursday, will be looking for a ninth win in 10 Bundesliga games when they host Paderborn tomorrow.
Meanwhile, fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen, one of four German clubs through to the last 16 of the Champions League, entertain Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Fixtures
(All 4:30pm unless stated)
Today:
Schalke 04 v Cologne, Augsburg v Bayern Munich, Hertha Berlin v Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen v Hanover 96, Freiburg v Hamburg, Mainz v Stuttgart (7:30pm)
Tomorrow:
Bayer Leverkusen v Borussia Moenchengladbach (4:30pm), VfL Wolfsburg v Paderborn (6:30pm) – AFP.
Online Reporter