Bayern Munich Conclude Their 49th Top Flight Season Against Stuttgart

As one would expect, the final match Bayern München and VfB Stuttgart is totally irrelevant.

Bayern can't get any better after winning the Bundesliga title in March, and Stuttgart can't get any worse after securing 15th after Hamburg lost lass week. The match is so irrelevant that GolTV is electing to show Schalke 04 against Nurnberg instead.

What the match could be is Claudio Pizarro's and Daniel van Buyten's last appearance in a Bayern uniform. Both have played eight seasons in Munich, and both are out of contract at the end of the season, although the veteran duo could sign a one-year contract like a year ago.

It is the last match for the German champions before they fight for the domestic double, so Pep Guardiola will likely not take any risks with his star players.

The Match (132nd Meeting)

Location: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany

Referees
Head: Bastian Dankert
FC Bayern:

Assistants: Markus Häcker, René Rohde
Fourth Official: Thorsten Schriever

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Television and Streaming
US: MyGermanTV +
Germany: Sky Bundesliga 2 | HD, Sky Go, WDR 2
Other Countries

The Fixture

Form

FC Bayern: WLWLW
Stuttgart: LDWLW

2013/14 Meetings

VfB Stuttgart (1-2) Bayern München | Mercedes-Benz-Arena (Bundesliga)
FCB: Claudio Pizarro (76'), Thiago (90+3')
VfB: Vedad Ibišević (29')

Records

Bundesliga: 57 W, 19 D, 17 L
DFB-Pokal: 9 W, 1 L
Ligapokal: 3 W, 1 L

Top Scorers

1. Mario Gómez, FCB/VfB – 16
2. Gerhard "Gerd" Müller, FCB – 15
3. Giovane Elber, FCB/VfB – 12
4. Lothar Matthäus, FCB; Fritz Walter Jr., VfB – 10

Biggest Victory: 6-1 (Bundesliga: September 9, 2012, Allianz Arena, München, Germany)
Biggest Defeat: 0-3 (Bundesliga: April 4, 1968, Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart, Germany; March 15, 1969, Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart, Germany; November 14, 1987, Neckarstadion, Stuttgart, Germany; DFB Pokal: November 9, 1989, Neckarstadion, Stuttgart, Germany)

The Squad

The final preparation for the DFB Pokal final comes with a familiar site to Pep Guardiola; a squad thinner than a dogwood tree.

Franck Ribery (back) will not take part, and Mario Götze and Philipp Lahm are doubtful as well. Thiago Alcântara (knee) and Xherdan Shaqiri (thigh) are still rehabbing in training, and Jerome Boateng is starting his two-match suspension.

Fortunately, Rafinha will come back from his three match ban, as well as Toni Kroos from his yellow-card suspension. Holger Badstuber could return too, but Guardiola assured that if he were to play it would be from coming off the bench.

In what could be their final games of their Bayern careers, Claudio Pizarro and Daniel van Buyten could make a farewell appearance in front of the home crowd, and the situation that comes about will be interesting to watch. With Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Mitchell Weiser not playing with the reserves on Friday, both could easily get a look in as well.

Bayern's Bundesliga finale last year provided a lot of fireworks, the Rekordmeister fighting back from a 3-1 deficit after 10 minutes to defeat Borussia Mönchengladbach. With players slowly returning to form, odds are against that happening two years in arrow.

Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1)

Mario Mandzukic

Arjen Robben – Toni Kroos – Thomas Müller

Bastian Schweinsteiger – Javi Martinez

David Alaba – Dante – Daniel van Buyten – Rafinha

Manuel Neuer

Bench: Lukas Raeder, Diego Contento, Holger Badstuber, Philipp Lahm, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Mario Götze, Claudio Pizarro

The Opponent

With Huub Stevens at the helm, VfB Stuttgart was able to get the five points necessary to stay in the Bundesliga, although the man key to survival, Martin Harnik, suffered a shoulder injury.

Without Harnik, a club that already struggles to score will be more stagnant in attack. Timo Werner will come in as the support, the 18-year-old with a stellar first season in the Bundesliga with five goals and four assists.

Georg Niedermeier is a question mark after getting a contusion on his knee at midweek, while the rehabbing Rani Khedira limiting Stevens's options in midfield. The team sheet has stayed largely the same, so unless Cacau plays in his final Bundesliga match, there will be no surprises in Stevens's set up.

Vedad Ibišević, Carlos Gruezo, Gotoku Sakai, and Arthur Boka all have a chance to play in the World Cup, so they will all take their final club match before then seriously.

Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1)

Vedad Ibišević

Timo Werner – Daniel Didavi – Ibrahim Traoré

Christian Gentner – Carlos Gruezo

Konstantin Rauch – Georg Niedermeier – Antonio Rüdiger – Gotoku Sakai

Sven Ulriech

Bench: Thorsten Kirschbaum, Karim Haggui, Arthur Boka, Moritz Leitner, Alexandru Maxim, Mohammed Abdellaoue, Cacau

The Outcome

Bayern have conceded a goal in the 11 of the last 13 Bundesliga matches, and Stuttgart have scored the sixth most goals on the counterattack. Even without Ribéry and Götze, Bayern are a very potent side, so they could very well end the season how it began.

Projected Score: Bayern Munich (3-1) VfB Stuttgart