Bayern Munich Opposition Form Report | September 13-14, 2014

Bundesliga & DFB Pokal

Hannover 96 (2-0) Hamburger SV

1-0 H96: Leon Andreasen (13')
2-0 H96: Artur Sobiech (24')

Five players made their debut in red shorts, and it certainly showed. Cléber Reis was nowhere to be found on Hannover 96's first two goals, requiring 1.78 meter (5'10") Matthias Ostrzolek to mark the brute forces of Leon Andreasen and Artur Sobiech. Mirko Slomka switched Julian Green from the left to the right, but it did not make a difference since the midfielders continued to turn over the ball. The team might gel in time for the DFB Pokal in a month's time, but not in a week.

Hamburg XI (4-2-3-1): Drobný – Diekmeier, Djourou, Cléber Reis, Ostrzolek (Jiracek 60') – Behrami (Arslan 78'), Holtby – Green (Rudnevs 46'), Müller, Stieber – Lasogga

UEFA Champions League

Arsenal (2-2) Manchester City

1-0 MCFC: Sergio Agüero (28')
1-1 AFC: Jack Wilshire (63')
2-1 AFC: Alexis Sanchez (73')
2-2 MCFC: Martin Demichelis (83')

Playing in Emirates Stadium, Manchester City did not match the out-of-the-gate exuberance Arsenal came out of the boot room with. Their patience ended up working to their advantage, as the Citizens were able to capitalize on a mistake from Mathieu Flamini as Jesus Navas found Agüero for a near-post strike. Vincent Kompany remains the beating heart of the defense, but two defensive blunders exposes the mediocrity of the Manchester City defense. Pellegrini has slowly shifted away from a two-striker system, and the versatile attack will be a handful for a Bayern three-man back line.

Man. City XI (4-2-3-1): Hart – Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Clichy – Lampard (Nasri 46'), Fernandinho (Kolarov 77') – Navas, Silva, Milner – Agüero (Džeko 67')

Empoli (0-1) AS Roma

0-1 Roma: Luigi Sepe (OG 45+1')

This was a result that Roma really had to grind to the bone to achieve. Rudi Garcia elected to remove some of his key players from the lineup, and some of the continuity that Roma thrives with was lost. Luigi Sepe conceded the break through after he could not handle a Radja Nainggolan shot, which was enough to gift Roma the three points. If anything, the result showed that Roma can overcome adversity, and they face somewhat of an adverse test against CSKA Moskva at midweek.

Roma XI (4-3-3): De Sanctis – Maicon, Manolas, Leandro Castan (Astori 46'), Cole – Pjanić (Kéita 68'), De Rossi, Nianggolan – Ljajić (Gervinho 82'), Destro, Florenzi

CSKA Moskva (2-1) Arsenal Tula

1-0 CSKA: Bibras Natcho (P 20')
1-1 Tula: Aleksandr Zotov (50')
2-1 CSKA: Roman Eremenko (78')

Arsenal Tula compacted the space against CSKA, doing their best to neutralize the threats of Ahmed Musa and Seydou Doumbia in open space. CSKA did not time their runs well, but Roman Eremenko took advantage of the run he timed perfectly with a far-post finish. With the middle not being an option, CSKA played more on the flanks in the second half, although that is not an area they normally operate. The victory slides them up to second for the moment, but this was not one of their better performances.

CSKA XI (4-2-3-1): Akinfeev – Mário Fernandes, Ignashevich, Berezutski, Nababkin – Natcho, Milanov (Efremov 90+2') – Tošić (Wernbloom 80'), Eremenko, Dzagoev (Doumbia 58') – Musa