Bayern Munich vs Eintracht Frankfurt: Lineups, team news, Leroy Sane’s return, and more! (Updated)

After crushing Atletico Madrid with overwhelming force in midweek, Bayern Munich take on their German counterparts — the ever so loathsome Eintracht Frankfurt. While no longer coached by Niko Kovac, the Frankfurters can count themselves among the most annoying opponents to face in a standard Bundesliga season, as they just love the dark arts. David Abraham especially has this strange grudge on Robert Lewandowski, and will probably try to KO him at least twice tomorrow.

So, with a slightly depleted squad and little respite from the packed fixture list, how will Hansi Flick deal with Eintracht? Well let’s take a look ...

Team news

Serge Gnabry tested negative in his most recent covid test, but the rules state that he still needs to quarantine for at least another 10 days. He and Corentin Tolisso (red card suspension) are the only surefire absentees from the game at the moment. According to Hansi Flick, Leroy Sane is fit and ready to play, but won’t start tomorrow. Expect him to be an option off the bench after the 60th minute.

So how will Bayern line up? Well, expect the usual duo of Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller up top, most likely flanked by Kingsley Coman and Douglas Costa. Coman has been challenged by Hansi to replicate his Champions League form on a regular basis in the Bundesliga, so the Frenchman will be eager to live up to his coach’s expectations. He was subbed off early in the Atleti game to save his legs for Frankfurt — expect this to become a pattern with the Frenchman until Bayern can field a full complement of wingers again. Costa meanwhile didn’t start in midweek, so he should be fresh enough to play the full 90 tomorrow.

As for the midfield — in Tolisso’s absence, expect Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka to be a permanent fixture in the domestic starting lineup for the time being. The duo will probably get their rest in midweek, as Marc Roca and Corentin Tolisso should be enough to handle Lokomitv Moscow.

Finally, the defense. Our contributor RLD wrote a fantastic piece on why Hansi was keeping Alphonso Davies on the sidelines at the moment, you should definitely check it out for yourself. This means that the backline will probably be unchanged, with the possible introduction of Jerome Boateng to rest the imperious Niklas Sule. Lucas Hernandez, David Alaba, and Benjamin Pavard should reprise their roles at left-back, center-back, and right-back respectively.

So, with all that out of the way, here’s how we think Bayern Munich will line up against Eintracht Frankfurt tomorrow:

Update

A small update from Florian Plettenberg: