Pre-Match Report
BVB versus FCB – for Sahin "the biggest game in Germany"
Six home games, six home wins, top of the home table – BVB's record at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK has been perfect in the Bundesliga this season. The aim is for that record to still be intact after the clash with Bayern Munich. "There is no reason not to be self-confident. We have won every match at home. We will be present, the fans will be present," said Sahin, who continued: "Matches like this always have their own laws, regardless of the situation in the table. The fact is that Bayern are far ahead of us in terms of points. We naturally want to catch up and in that regard a game against a direct rival is a good thing."
The men from Munich have kept clean sheets in their last seven matches across all competitions. They are still unbeaten in the Bundesliga, with seven victories and two draws to their name, and top the table with a six-point lead over Eintracht Frankfurt. FCB boast the league's best attack with 36 goals scored and its best defence with seven goals conceded. "They defend very high up, give the opposition very few chances and keep them away from their goal," said Sahin, summarising Bayern's approach. But he also said: "There will be spaces for us that we want to exploit. We know what we have to do to get into those spaces. We feel prepared; we want to score goals and win the match."
On the personnel front, the coach will be without the suspended Emre Can and Filippo Mane, who sustained an injury in midweek. Karim Adeyemi is still undergoing rehab. In the case of Julian Brandt, who had to come off injured in Zagreb in midweek, a diagnosis is expected on Friday. Sahin believes the No. 10 is an extraordinary player, "but I'm not having any sleepless nights because I know that we're in good form. Whoever comes in will do a good job." Niklas Süle and Kjell Wätjen are available to play again following their respective injury problems.
Sahin calls for courage
BVB received approximately 400,000 ticket requests for the match, with 81,365 spectators set to be in attendance on Saturday evening. Sahin labelled it as "the biggest game in Germany". Addressing his expectations of his team, he said: "Without courage, you don't stand a chance against any team. We'll be courageous, we have to be courageous." So that BVB's record at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK is still flawless on Saturday evening.
Christina Reinke