- 26.08.10
- First Team
Friday, 8:30 p.m. - Red Devils Host Bayern Munich
On Friday, August 27, 2010, the Betze will be seething again as the Red Devils take on FC Bayern Munich in their first home game of the new campaign. The encounters between FCK and Bayern at the Fritz Walter Stadium have always been cracking clashes and following the successful season kick-off, Marco Kurz’s side is braced for a torrid battle against the champions.
FCK - Bayern
One can feel the tingling sensation all around. Friday evening, under floodlights, a 48,500 full house at the Fritz Walter Stadium, the nation’s most successful club - the first home game of the 2010/11 season will surely be a very special one. The Red Devils’ faithful are eagerly awaiting Friday’s clash at the Betzenberg, and after the Red Devils’ great opening victory over 1. FC Köln, Marco Kurz’s men are brimming with confidence.
True to the motto “we fear no foe“, FCK boss Kurz prepared his men for the road game in Cologne, and this attitude is even more important for the encounter with Bayern. This season’s first competitive games have shown that all FCK players are in a strong physical condition and that they are ready to take on Bayern. Nevertheless, Kurz’s men must be alert and attentive right from the beginning. “We must trust in our strong points and act boldly. If we fall behind, it will become very tough,” Christian Tiffert said at the pre-match press conference.
Kurz, who indicated that his side would not defend for 90 minutes, has been preparing his squad for Friday’s clash since Tuesday. Both team captain Martin Amedick and goalkeeper Tobi Sippel missed the team training sessions at the beginning of the week due to illness but have resumed the team training program and – just like Ivo Ilicevic who was plagued with a knee irritation - will most probably be available for selection on Friday. New signing Jan Moravek, on the other hand, will definitely miss the clash since he is sidelined with a muscle injury. 
Louis van Gaal is forced to replace the Dutch international Arjen Robben (torn muscle in left thigh). Nevertheless, the 59-year-old has a top-class squad to choose from. With Jörg Butt, Philipp Lahm, Holger Badstuber, Thomas Müller, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Bayern’s only summer signing Toni Kroos, the star-studded line-up is likely to include seven German national team players.
In addition to them, Bayern’s line-up features top players such as last Friday’s most inspiring FCB player Franck Ribery and the Dutch national team player Mark van Bommel. Moreover, Ivica Olic has resumed the team training program again on Monday after an eleven day lay-off and aims to play on Friday evening. However, if Bayern boss Louis van Gaal puts his trust in the squad which defeated VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 in the opening fixture last week, Miro Klose will appear up front instead of Olic.
The match at the Betze is particularly significant for Miroslav Klose since the former FCK player wore the Red Devils’ jersey from 1999 to 2004. Miroslav Klose, whose home is the Palatinate region of Germany, made his Bundesliga debut with Kaiserslautern in April 2000. “I always like going back. Everything is familiar, the fans, the stadium and so on. Before I turned out for FCK, I was a usual fan on the stands dreaming of playing for the Red Devils some day,” Klose stated in the build-up to the clash. Knowing the fans and stadium well, he added: “The Betze will be seething. It will be very intimidating and we will be playing against twelve men.” He surely will be right since more than 40,000 FCK fans will cheer the Red Devils on and create an amazing atmosphere in the ground on Friday.
