German Super Cup: Borussia Dortmund challenge Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund host triple winners FC Bayern Munich in the German Super Cup tonight in front of a sellout crowd of over 80,000 spectators at the Signal Iduna Park, only 63 days after the UEFA Champions League final in Wembley the two sides renew their rivalry.
The match will be the first chance for new FC Bayern coach Pep Guardiola to win official silverware after the Bavarians have had a good pre-season, while Dortmund will want to stop their run of five matches without a win against the southern neighbours.
Bayern Munich will be without Manuel Neuer and Franck Ribery due to injuries which they picked-up in a friendly against FC Barcelona mid-week, while Mario Götze still hasn’t recovered from an injury and hence, they will not make the trip to Dortmund. This means Tom Starke will take Manuel Neuer’s place in goal, while the midfield options allow Guardiola to decide at short notice who would take Ribery’s place.
Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund have their own injury problems as new midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan and right-back Lukasz Piszczek both are out with injuries, while striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Jakub Blaszczykowski remain doubtful for tonight’s match. It will be interesting to see how Jürgen Klopp covers for these injuries as his bench isn’t as good as that of Bayern Munich.
In last year’s German Super Cup Bayern Munich defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-1 and they will hope for a similar start to this season.