Opponent Analysis: FC Bayern Munich

A massive match in Munich!

RB Leipzig face second-placed FC Bayern on Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. Before the match, Bayern announced that head coach Thomas Tuchel will leave the reigning German champions at the end of the season.

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FC Bayern have been in poor form, losing their last three matches. Plus, they will be without some key players for their home game against RB Leipzig.

Form, players, and staff – we analyse our opponents before the big game in Munich!
 

FC BAYERN ANALYSIS

Troubled times
Bayern suffered three defeats in a row last week. The last time this happened was at the end of the 2014/15 season. At that time, however, the club had long since become German champions under former head coach Pep Guardiola.

This season, their poor run came much earlier, and during an important phase of the season. After losing 0-3 at league leaders Leverkusen, the loss in the CL first leg against Lazio (0-1), a surprising 2-3 defeat at VfL Bochum followed .

Changes in the summer
In the Bundesliga, FC Bayern (16 W/ 2 D/ 4 L) are in second place after 22 games, eight points behind Leverkusen. The record champions are out of the DFB Cup, they were eliminated in the second round by third division side 1. FC Saarbrücken (1-2) .

On Wednesday, the club officially announced that FCB and Thomas Tuchel would part ways in the summer. A new head coach will take over in Munich for the 2024/25 season.
 

KEY FACTS

• Best attack in the league: 61 goals (2.7 goals per game)
   
• Top scorer in the league: Harry Kane with 25 goals
   
• Bayern have 50 points, four more than at this stage last season.
   
• Three defeats in a row

BAYERN’S LAST FIVE COMPETITIVE GAMES

• 2-3 at VfL Bochum (Matchday 22)
• 0-1 at Lazio Rome (Round of 16, Champions League)
• 0-3 at Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Matchday 21)
• 3-1 against Borussia Mönchengladbach (Matchday 20)
• 3-2 at FC Augsburg (Matchday 19)
   

Team News #FCBRBL

Neuer back to full strength
Bayern started the season without their starting goalkeeper, as Manuel Neuer was out injured until the end of October after breaking his leg. Since the home game against Darmstadt (8-0) he has been back between the posts and has shown that even at 37 years old he is still one of the team’s most important players. Neuer has kept six clean sheets in 14 Bundesliga games.
 

Reactions to injury concerns
Bayern have been repeatedly forced to make changes to the team this season because of numerous injury problems. This also led to several transfers during the winter break. 

Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur) was signed as defensive backup while Minjae Kim was away at the Asian Cup. The transfer of Bryan Zaragoza from FC Granada, originally planned for the summer, was brought forward because Kingsley Coman (torn MCL) was injured. And Sacha Boey came as an additional alternative for Galatasaray’s full-back positions, but he is now also currently injured (torn hamstring).

“Even though the situation at Bayern isn’t easy at the moment, it’s still a game against the record champions at their home. They have a world-class team. We’re focusing on ourselves and our performance,” says our captain Peter Gulacsi, looking at the game in advance . 
 

STATISTICS

• Most goals: Harry Kane (25 goals)
   
• Most assists: Leroy Sane (12 assists)
   
• Most goal contributions: Harry Kane (25 goals / 5 assists)
   
• Clean sheets: Manuel Neuer (6x) with 18 goals conceded
   

KEY PLAYERS

• Manuel Neuer (captain and multi-time winner of Goalkeeper of the Year)
• Jamal Musiala (tricky and dangerous)
• Leroy Sane (most assists in the Bundesliga)
• Harry Kane (top goalscorer)

   

INJURIES & SUSPENSIONS

• Kingsley Coman (torn MCL)
• Serge Gnabry (hamstring injury)
• Sacha Boey (torn muscle fiber)
• Noussair Mazraoui (torn muscle fiber)
• Bouna Sarr (torn cruciate ligament)
• Tarek Buchmann (torn tendon)
• Dayot Upamecano (suspension)

   

DOUBTS

• Konrad Laimer (back in training after a torn muscle, back in team training since Wednesday)
• Alphonso Davies (back in training after medial ligament strain)
• Aleksandar Pavlovic (missed Bochum match due to injury, back in team training since Wednesday)
   

TACTICS AND SYSTEM

In March 2023, Thomas Tuchel took over as coach at FC Bayern, replacing Julian Nagelsmann. Tuchel proved in his time at Paris St. Germain and Chelsea FC that he can lead top teams to success. With PSG he became French champion twice and with Chelsea he won the Champions League in 2021. He led Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 2023.

Even though Bayern are currently eight points behind league leaders Leverkusen, they are having a pretty strong season under Tuchel. FCB currently sit on 50 points. Second in the table has only had such a high number of points at this point once before: Borussia Dortmund in 2015/16 – also under coach Thomas Tuchel .

The 50-year-old usually relies on a 4-2-3-1 system for Bayern. Only in exceptional cases does he switch to three at the back, most recently in the game against Leverkusen. Given the many injuries in the full-back positions, it is not out of the question that this system will be used against RBL .

As FC Bayern announced on Wednesday morning, Thomas Tuchel will be leaving the club at the end of the season. Both clubs agreed to this after the 2-3 defeat at VfL Bochum .

COACH FACTS

• Name: Thomas Tuchel
• Birthday: August 29, 1973 in Krumbach
• Former clubs: Chelsea FC, Paris St. Germain, Borussia Dortmund, 1. FSV Mainz 05, FC Augsburg (youth), VfB Stuttgart (youth)
• Achievements: German champion 2023 (with FC Bayern), Champions League winner 2021, Club World Champion 2021, UEFA Supercup winner 2021 (all with Chelsea FC), French champion 2019 and 2020, French Cup winner 2020 (all with Paris St. Germain), DFB Cup winner 2017 (with Borussia Dortmund)

TACTICS FACTS

• Thomas Tuchel prefers a back four system at Bayern.
• If Konrad Laimer and Alphonso Davies are not fit, there will be a lack of full-backs due to injuries. Joshua Kimmich would probably have to play at right back, or the system would have to be changed.

Bayern’s line-up last match

Neuer – Mazraoui, de Ligt, Kim, Guerreiro – Kimmich, Goretzka – Müller, Choupo-Moting, Musiala – Kane
 

RB LEIPZIG VS BAYERN HISTORY

HEAD TO HEAD

• 3 wins , 6 draws, 10 defeats – 30:42 goals
• 1 home win, 2 away wins
• Top scorer: Dani Olmo (4 goals)
• BIggest win: 3-0 on August 12, 2023 (goals: 3x Olmo)

 PLAYERS WHO REPRESENTED BOTH CLUBS

• Leopold Zingerle (at FC Bayern from 2009 to 2015)
• Dayot Upamecano (at RB Leipzig from 2017 to 2021 )
• Joshua Kimmich (at RB Leipzig from 2013 to 2015)
• Konrad Laimer (at RB Leipzig from 2017 to 2023)
   

WHERE IS FC BAYERN VS. RB LEIPZIG SHOWN?

The game will be broadcast live on Sky from 6.30 p.m. on Saturday. To watch this you need a Sky subscription. You can also follow the game free of charge on our RBL app – including live audio broadcast on Bullenfunk. And of course we are also live on our social media channels Twitter , Facebook and Instagram as well as on our WhatsApp channel. There you will get all the information and exclusive content about the match.