adminBERLIN. — Bayern Munich earned the plaudits with their impressive Champions League soccer mid-week win at Manchester City, but Bayer Leverkusen are out to end their unbeaten German Bundesliga run today.
Bayern travel to Leverkusen top of Group D in the Champions League and second in the German league on goal difference with leaders Borussia Dortmund, but level on 19 points after seven matches.
Leverkusen are just a point behind in third and eager to claim the scalp of Pep Guardiola’s Bayern, who are on a 32-match unbeaten league run.
“I don’t think Bayern are unbeatable. On a good day we can do it,” said Leverkusen striker Stefan Kiessling, the Bundesliga’s top scorer last season.
Bayer were the last team to beat Bayern in the Bundesliga, on October 28 last year, when they stunned Munich with a 2-1 home win.
It was Bayern’s only league defeat last season, but with Guardiola’s European champions fresh from their impressive 3-1 win at City’s Etihad Stadium, Sami Hyypia-coached Leverkusen need to show some confidence.
“This is our chance to make a real statement,” added Kiessling after Bayer’s 2-1 Champions League home win against Real Sociedad on Wednesday.
“We go into this game wanting to win it.” Bayern are closing in on the Bundesliga’s record of 36 matches unbeaten — set by Hamburg in 1983 — and Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno said respect, not fear, must be the order of the day.
“Bayern are the best team in the world, but many people forget that we can also play good football,” said Leno with Leverkusen having won nine of their 11 matches this season.
“We have a huge opportunity to make a name for ourselves.”
While Guardiola insisted “it’s not the end, it wasn’t the final,” in a bid to dampen expectations after Bayern’s win in Manchester, the way president Uli Hoeness waxed lyrical would lead impartial fans to think the result in Leverkusen is academic.
Fixtures
Today: Schalke 04 v Augsburg, Borussia Moenchengladbach v Borussia Dortmund, VfB Stuttgart v Werder Bremen, VfL Wolfsburg v Eintracht Braunschweig, Mainz 05 v Hoffenheim, Bayer 04 Leverkusen v Bayern Munich
Tomorrow: Nuremberg v Hamburg, Freiburg v Eintracht Frankfurt — AFP.
Online Reporter