Freiburg vs Bayern Munich: Lineups, team news, Flick confirms Mullerinho, and more! (Update: Tolisso ruled out)

We’ve made it to the final English week of the year, and it’s going to be a tough one. Freiburg isn’t a name that might strike fear into the hearts of football fans, but they sit at 6th place in the league table, just two points behind Bayern Munich.

Christian Streich has molded a team that is tough to beat, especially at home. With Bayern still reeling from injuries, Hansi Flick will need to pull out all the stops to take three points.

Team news

Wanna hear the most Bayern thing ever? Leon Goretzka has muscular issues. He joins Fiete Arp, Niklas Sule, Lucas Hernandez, and Michael Cuisance on the injury list. Luckily, Corentin Tolisso has recovered from his muscular problem — he and Javi Martinez return to the squad and will be available for selection.

So how will Bayern line up? Well the attack might be interesting — in his press conference, Hansi Flick indicated that he’s ready to unleash Mullerinho (a combo of Thomas Muller and Philippe Coutinho) upon the world. Muller and Coutinho are two of the most in-form players at Bayern at the moment, so seeing them line up behind Robert Lewandowski will be a treat. Couts will likely take Kingsley Coman’s place on the left flank, leaving the right side open for Serge Gnabry.

In midfield, expect Thiago Alcantara to line up next to Corentin Tolisso. Joshua Kimmich would usually be preferred here, but given Jerome Boateng and Javi Martinez’s recent issues in defense, the coach may be tempted to try moving Kimmich back to right back and putting Benjamin Pavard at center back.

Alphonso Davies and David Alaba round out the defense, and Manuel Neuer will be in goal. So, without further ado, here’s how we think Bayern Munich will line up:

Other options:

• Ivan Perisic in for Coutinho on the wing.
• Javi Martinez in for Tolisso — Kimmich moves to midfield.

Update

Corentin Tolisso has been ruled out of the game. That probably means Javi Martinez will come in, unless Flick goes for an insane hyper-offensive 4-1-4-1.