Olympiacos vs Bayern Munich: Lineups, team news, and will Kovac finally start Müller?

Bayern Munich look to bounce back after their 2-2 draw to FC Augsburg. After conceding in the first minute, Bayern went on to score two goals while dominating Augsburg. Bayern Munich then lost focus yet again and let Augsburg score in stoppage time (the 91st and last minute), gifting them a much needed point. Bayern failed to put the game out of reach by missing too many opportunities they should have scored.

This week’s Champions League game should be a nice change of pace for the German Giants as they look to get their first win since their annihilation of Tottenham. Bayern come into this match with six points, having won all their Champions League games so far. Their opponent, Olympiacos, has only one point and is at the bottom of the group. However, Olympiacos is first in their league. This is the first time the two have met since 2015 when Bayern beat them 4-0.

Team news

The biggest news affecting this week’s starting lineup is that Niklas Süle will be out due to injury. In an often-changing back line this year, Süle had been the one player who consistently started. Lucas Hernandez and David Alaba are back from their injuries, having both played last weekend and can potentially start tomorrow in his place.

Fiete Arp is also injured and not travelling with the team. He is still recovering from a wrist injury. Leon Goretzka came back from injury last weekend, coming on as a substitute for his first Bundesliga appearance of the season. He has made the trip to Greece with his Bayern Munich teammates and will be available.

A definite starter will be Robert Lewandowski, who scored yet again this weekend. His form has been simply fantastic and Bayern have no back-up strikers even if they wanted to give him a rest. Joshua Kimmich will also likely start, but the question is where. With one fewer defender in the mix, we could see the fullback/midfielder return to right-back where he played against Augsburg.

In midfield it is anyone’s guess who will start. Javi Martinez played well this weekend despite playing little this year, but Niko Kovac also has Thiago, Corentin Tolisso, Goretzka, and possibly Kimmich as option. There could be also be a change on the wings. Serge Gnabry will likely start, but Kovac could potentially give Perisic or Davies a chance in lieu of Kingsley Coman, who failed to make much of a mark against Augsburg on Saturday.

Will we finally see Thomas Müller start tomorrow? Müller has long been disappointed with his lack of playing time and hasn’t started his last six games. Müller didn’t do himself any favors last week, missing a clear chance that would have clinched the three points for Bayern, but Kovac refused to indulge the press by rating his ten-minute performance. Kovac refused to take the bait and tip his hand at today’s pre-game press conference.

Fergus

Andreas Borst

Schnitzel01

Teddy Son