Can Bayern Make it 50 not out ?

The last defeat was a long, long time ago. FC Bayern are unbeaten in their last 49 league matches, comprising 43 wins and six draws with the previous 16 games all ending in victory. FCB can make it a round 50 games without losing if they avoid defeat in Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash with Bayer Leverkusen. However, Pep Guardiola’s team need to be on their guard against theWerkself. The last points Bayern dropped in the league came in a 1-1 draw at Leverkusen in October 2013. And the last defeat was almost exactly a year before that in a 2-1 reverse at home to - Bayer Leverkusen.

Strong home record against Bayer

And the recent record against Leverkusen should serve as ample warning for FCB. Bayern have only won once in their last four outings against the Rhineland club with the other three games producing one draw and two defeats. However, the Reds have won twelve of the last 18 games and the home record of 25 wins, six draws and just three defeats with a goal difference of 79 for and 30 against speaks volumes for Bayern. The two teams have met a total of 69 times in the top flight with 40 wins for FCB, 14 draws and 15 defeats. The goal difference is 133 to 84.

Goals guaranteed

Goals are almost guaranteed when Bayern and Bayer face each other. The last 47 Bundesliga matches between the Reds and the Werkself have always produced at least one goal. The last 0-0 draw was almost 24 years ago on 28 April 1990 in Leverkusen.

A first for Schmidt this term

Markus Schmidt is the referee on Saturday. It is the first time this season the 40-year-old personnel manager from Stuttgart has refereed a game involving Bayern. The assistant referees are Wolfgang Walz and Kai Voss with Christian Dingert acting as the fourth official.

We Deserved to go Through

History repeats itself? Not at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night. Almost exactly 12 months ago Bayern were in danger of failing to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League right up to the final whistle. And this time? Yet again it was the second leg of a Round of 16 tie with Arsenal as opponents, and yet again FCB held a two-goal lead from the first leg. But this time there were no scares. “We were never in danger of going out. It was a commanding performance,” declared Thomas Müller, summing up the 1-1 draw that takes FCB through to the last eight.

The stats reflect the superiority of FCB over the team lying third in the Premier League, as FCB had 14 to 7 shots on goal, 27 to 11 crosses, and 67 percent possession. “We did very well overall,” said Arjen Robben. Manuel Neuer added: “All in all, I think we deserved to go through and we can be happy.” Even Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger, whose team had to make up a two-goal deficit, admitted: “We didn’t really manage to put them under pressure.”

Pep Guardiola left the Allianz Arena “very happy”. The plans of the FCB head coach - to keep Arsenal out of the game, avoid losing the ball, and stifle the Gunners’ counter-attacks - all came off. “We wanted to control the game and we achieved that,” said Guardiola, “we succeeded in minimising our mistakes and we played at a very high level. Except for the goal we conceded, which could have been ruled out for a foul, nothing else happened. It’s all good.”

'No serious problems'

“We didn’t give anything away, we created a lot but sadly didn’t manage to score,” was Robben’s analysis of the Reds’ dominance that lacked only the killer finish. “We often got to the by-line but didn’t play the final ball,” said Guardiola.

As to the play, Bastian Schweinsteiger gave FCB an overdue lead on 54 minutes. Lukas Podolski put Arsenal back on level terms out of the blue three minutes later after winning the ball in somewhat dubious circumstances. “When you’re sprinting it only takes a touch and you end up stumbling - that was certainly the case here,” reported Philipp Lahm.

As Thomas Müller admitted, the equaliser “hurt a bit”. At the same time, it gave Arsenal renewed hope and they were able to compete on more equal terms. “That’s normal,” said Guardiola, “we had a few problems after they made it 1-1, but nothing serious.”

Reaction to Bayern v Arsenal

Pep Guardiola: “We were very intelligent. We wanted to stifle Arsenal’s counter-attacks and control the game. We only allowed them one chance in the first half. All Arsenal did was wait for us to lose the ball. Overall we did very well. After they made it 1-1 we had a few problems for 15 minutes, but nothing major. We’re pleased and everything’s good.“

Philipp Lahm: “We were very good in the first half. We controlled the play and stopped them creating anything - this against a very good team. But we’d already put ourselves in a great position in the first leg. We made too many errors in the second half. The game got tighter the longer it went on, so it’s important to be able to see a game through to its conclusion in situations like that.“

Bastian Schweinsteiger: “We tried to apply pressure and attack. Arsenal pulled everyone back and tried to close down the space. We looked to get at them down the flanks and our penetration was reasonably good. But we failed to score. For me personally it’s great to play 90 minutes in the Champions League against a team as good as this.“

Manuel Neuer: “Arsenal are not only a good footballing side, they battle away and they have plenty of desire. You only have to think back to the result last year. You have to be alert. But from the 80th minute we knew we could bring it home.“

Arsene Wenger (Arsenal coach): “Overall, we lost the tie at home. We needed to be creating more chances in the last 20 minutes but unfortunately we were unable to do so.“

Lukas Podolski (Arsenal scorer): “It’s always going to be tough making up a two-goal deficit against one of the best teams. We had to be creating more chances. The second goal in the first leg basically killed us off. We’re out of the competition so now we have to concentrate on the Premier League and the FA Cup.“

We've been warned

Bayern have one foot in the door to the Champions League quarter-finals. Following FCB’s 2-0 win at Arsenal in the first leg of the Round of 16, the holders can secure their passage to the last eight in the return leg at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night (Live in English from 8.45 pm CET on Twitter and fcbayern.de Web Radio), although that does depend on Pep Guardiola’s team not squandering their two-goal lead from the first leg.

“We’ll run into serious problems if we start to play for time and just sit on our lead,” warned Guardiola at Monday’s pre-match press conference. Toni Kroos knows all too well the tie with the Gunners is far from over. “2-0 is always a tricky result as we saw last year,” said the midfielder. At the same stage last term, FCB lost 2-0 at home after winning 3-1 in London and were in danger of being knocked out. “Arsenal are capable of turning round a 2-0 defeat.”

Confidence is high

“We took away a good result from the first leg and we want to produce a solid performance to get through to the next round,” declared Thomas Müller, although he too recalled last season’s match at the Allianz Arena. “We learned a lesson and we know what happened last year. That serves as a warning,” said Müller ahead of the re-run of last term’s Round of 16 tie. However, Müller added: “I don’t expect us to lose 2-0 again.”

With ten wins in ten games since the winter break, “confidence is very high” at the treble winners according to Müller. The Reds are therefore determined not go into the game against the third-placed team in the Premier League “with any lack of focus. We have to get stuck into challenges straight away and try to assert ourselves on the opposition by dominating possession,’ said the second-most prolific German player ever in the Champions League with 20 goals to his name to date.

More dominant display

Immediately after his team’s 6-1 victory over VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday, Guardiola called for a more dominant display on Tuesday night: “We need to dominate possession.” Guardiola knows Arsenal “very well. They have the quality to hold on to the ball. We can’t afford to let Arsenal play their game. We’ve got to control the match. We’ll get through to the quarter-finals if we have the ball. If we let Arsenal have the ball, they will go through.”

The 43-year-old can hardly contain his enthusiasm when he talks about the creative players in the English side including skipper Mikel Arteta, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Özil. “Anything can happen when they have the ball given their qualities in midfield.” The Gunners have nothing to lose after defeat in the first leg and they will look to put in a performance in Munich. “It’s like a final for Arsenal, so their players will give 100 percent. I expect them to produce a top performance.”

All on board

Guardiola selects from close to a full squad. All his players are available with the exception of Holger Badstuber and 18 will make it onto the UEFA team sheet on Tuesday night. Mario Götze is expected to return to the squad after being rested for the Wolfsburg game at the weekend. It remains to be seen who will make way for the versatile forward. Guardiola is certainly playing his cards close to his chest in terms of the line-up.

“You definitely want to be first out of the blocks in games like this,” said Müller. He and Mario Mandzukic did their chances of a start against the Gunners no harm by grabbing a brace each at Wolfsburg. Guardiola has a wealth of options at his disposal at the start of the business end of the season. He even joked about no player being injured when it comes to the knockout stages of the Champions League. “I don’t know why but they’re all always fit – here and at every other big club.”

Focus on Wolfsburg as Internationals Return

As always at this stage of the season, there is no let-up for the stars. The club’s internationals returned to the Säbener Strasse facility on Thursday afternoon - and immediately took up preparations for Saturday’s Bundesliga trip to face VfL Wolfsburg (kick-off 3.30 pm). Pep Guardiola split his men into three groups for the late afternoon workout: one group completed a full-on session, others stuck to regeneration with a few gentle laps of the training ground. The third group reported to the performance centre and appointments with the club’s physios.

In terms of injuries and team selection the news was overwhelmingly positive. Thomas Müller resumed the full team programme on Thursday after shaking off a strain. Franck Ribéry and Xherdan Shaqiri, who both made brief appearances for their national teams the previous evening, are definitely in contention for the squad to face Wolfsburg. “I felt good. It was good to get a few minutes against the Netherlands. It’s got me back into match rhythm. I’m ready to play,” Ribéry declared.

Reaction to Bayern v Schalke

Pep Guardiola: “Our rhythm and our performance in the first half were very good. Congratulations to my team. Our lead has gone up by another point and we’re closer to retaining the German championship.“

Arjen Robben: “All credit to the team. We really enjoyed it today. We played with so much passion. It was one of the best halves of football I’ve seen since joining Bayern. What pace, what aggression. Schalke never got into the match. We overran them in the first half. At the end of the day it’s not about records, it’s about trophies. We have to maintain our rhythm for the big games that are coming up.“

Patient Bayern See Off Ten-Man Gunners

Bayern survived a torrid opening to Wednesday’s eventful Champions League Round of 16 first leg clash away to North London giants Arsenal, including an  action-packed first half with two missed penalties and a sending-off, before dominating the second period and scoring two crucial away goals. The Gunners provided a different calibre of opposition to FCB’s recent domestic rivals, but the treble winners still had the quality to equal the current Champions League record of seven straight away wins in Europe’s elite club competition set by Ajax Amsterdam from 1995 to 1997.

The 60,000 full house at the Emirates Stadium saw the Bundesliga leaders penned back at the start of the incident-filled first half, but Manuel Neuer saved Mesut Özil’s weak early penalty. Munich slowly but surely seized the upper hand and Arsenal were reduced to ten men when keeper Wojciech Szczesny was red carded for a foul on Arjen Robben in the box, but the game remained goalless at the break due to David Alaba missing the ensuing spot-kick. Pep Guardiola’s team upped the ante after the restart and took a 54th-minute lead through Toni Kroos, but despite the visitors’ utter control of proceedings, it took until the 88th minute before sub Thomas Müller headed the second.

The result puts Bayern firmly in the driving seat for the return at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday 11 March, where the Reds could even afford a narrow defeat and still make the quarter-finals. The Bavarians now return to the bread and butter of the Bundesliga on Sunday away to Hannover.