Hertha Berlin vs Bayern Munich: Lineups, team news, no chances for Lucas Hernandez, and more! (Updated)

If there was anything good that came out of the loss to Holstein Kiel, it’s the fact that Bayern Munich finally have a decent amount of rest between games for a change. That’s all about to change though, with the FIFA Club World Cup looming overhead. So for this game against Hertha Berlin, will Hansi Flick opt for rotation? Or will he try and extend the lead at the top of the table, in a weekend where title rivals could be tired from midweek cup games?

Team news

Both Javi Martinez and Leon Goretzka are still out of training following their positive test for covid-19. Its unknown whether they’ll be back in time to travel for the CWC, but they’ll definitely miss tomorrow’s game. Tanguy Nianzou continues to work on his comeback, while Corentin Tolisso returned to team training after the tattoo incident.

So on to the lineup. Last time, Robert Lewandowski scored four goals to give Bayern a narrow win over Berlin in the Hinrunde, so you know he’s starting again. Playing alongside him will likely be Thomas Muller, who’s needed for unlocking the Berlin defense. Hertha have been terrible all season, but they tend to turn up against Bayern, so these two will probably need to be at the top of their game tomorrow.

Joining them on the wings is probably Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry. Gnabry had a good outing against Hoffenheim, so Flick might want him to build on that to help his confidence. Sane remains another option — he’ll probably come off the bench if he doesn’t start.

In midfield, expect Marc Roca to partner up with Joshua Kimmich once again. Tolisso probably isn’t out of the doghouse just yet, and he’s coming off a long muscle injury. This means that Roca has yet another chance to impress the coach with a good performance — hopefully he grabs the opportunity with both hands.

Finally, the defense. Lucas Hernandez is once again unlikely to play, only because Hansi Flick seems to want to play Alphonso Davies into form. The less said about the Alaba situation, the better. Niklas Sule at least might get a look in, with Jerome Boateng getting a short rest. With Chris Richards now at Hoffenheim, Benjamin Pavard is practically the only candidate to start at right-back. Manuel Neuer captains the defense from between the sticks, and he’s going to have his work cut out if Berlin start sending in crosses like Hoffenheim did.

Without further ado, here’s what the lineup could be:

Update

Here’s a look at what Bild thinks the lineup will be: