Line-ups have been announced, and the players are taking the field. Kroos is said to be carrying a flu bug, but he's still on the field. For Bayern:
Neuer
Lahm - Badstuber - van Buyten - Boateng
Alaba - Gustavo
RIbery - Kroos - Müller
Gomez
For Werder B:
Mielitz
Ignjovski - Naldo - Wolf - Papasthopolous
Bargfrede - Marin - Fritz - Hunt
Pizarro - Arnautovic
So Robben still on the bench, Bastian still out, and Tymo still suspended, but Kroos is good to go. On the other side, Wiese is absent, as suspected, but Pizarro is set. Quick recovery for him from the knee ligament damage.
My ESPN Deportes says they're picking it up at 9:45. Is that the actual start time, or are they going to join already in progress? Luckily, ESPN 3 is running it as well.
Looks like a cloudy day in Munich, but a few early goals would put everyone in a sunnier mood. Viva viva FC Bayern!
* * * *
4-1 is your final. A nice score-line, but this was a worrisome game for about two-thirds of the contest. Our defense was inconsistent - making a few nice stops and clears, but also getting exposed at least twice. Bremen is a good team, though, and you can't expect to keep them from getting any good chances.
Our second goal (the penalty called when Mueller was shooting) was a little lucky - looked like the defender got the ball cleanly on the rebound. But, we had a Gomez goal ruled off for offside that looked to be legit, so it evens out. Anyway, we were definitely the better team, though we still have some holes to fill.
Positives:
- Robben looked very sharp. I'm not even worried about the two goals from the spot - anyone can do that - but his footwork and quickness looked great. Hopefully he's rounding into shape.
- Lahm looked good for most of the match. He had a couple good take-aways on the defensive end and looked at least competent going forward.
- Ribery - but he's been a positive for a while now.
Negatives:
- Neuer had two nice saves in the second half, but that goal was one you'd like to see him stop. It wasn't a howler or anything - he had to dive to get close to it - but for 18 million Euro, we need him to make a great save very so often.
- van Buyten and Badstuber had a few break-downs. I like Boateng in one of those CB spots, but there's something to be said for squad rotation (especially with a mid-week game this week).
Here's some video - the Ribery goal:
Another angle of that same goal:
Robben's first from the spot - perfect placement:
Back with more later. I did record this, so we can do some freeze-frame picture analysis if you want. I might head to the bar and see if I can catch the last few minutes of the QPR match. Thanks for reading.