FC Bayern München vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen Preview – Bayern kick-off the new Bundesliga season
Traditionally, the reigning Bundesliga champions have the honour of getting the new season underway and once again Bayern Munich will be involved in the opening match.
The 27-time German champions face Bayer Leverkusen at home in the Allianz Arena on Friday night, with everything pointing towards yet another winning starts for the Bavarians.
Although Bayern suffered a number of disappointing results on their Asian tour – losing to both Milan clubs, as well as Napoli and Liverpool, they found their form when they needed it.
Bayern won the German Super Cup on penalties against Borussia Dortmund and then had a convincing 5-0 win against third division Chemnitzer FC in the German Cup on the weekend.
Bayer Leverkusen, meanwhile, needed extra-time in their 3-0 cup game win against Karlsruher SC, who also campaign in the third division.
But it is not only the current form that suggests the three points stay in the Bavarian capital. History is also on the side of Bayern as the last champions who failed to win their opening match were Bayern themselves, but that was way back in 2008, when they drew 2-2 with Hamburg.
Since then, the reigning champions have won eight games in a row, with Bayern being involved in five of those games and amassing a combined goal tally of 18 scored and just three conceded.
Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti will be able to count on new signing Corentin Tolisso, while James Rodriguez, who joined the Bavarians from Real Madrid, will most likely not have recovered in time from an injury.
Notwithstanding the 5-0 cup win, defenders Joshua Kimmich and Matts Hummels said that they needed to do more. “In the first half we played too slowly at times. We need to play on the flanks and then cross into the area,” Kimmich said, while Hummels added: “Looking forward to the league, there is still quite a bit to do.”
Leverkusen go into the season with a new coach in Heiko Herrlich, with the former international undertaking his first managerial steps in the top flight.
The club bought Lars Bender from Borussia Dortmund, but saw regulars Hakan Calhanoglu, Chicharito and Ömer Toprak leave.
African football fans will once again be able to see the Bundesliga live and exclusive on StarTimes, with the match between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen being the highlighted game this weekend. It will be shown live and exclusive on the StarTimes World Football channel at 18:30 GMT.
StarTimes Media Division Sports Director, Cole He Xin, said that the highlighted game is bound to attract a huge audience. “Bayern Munich is a global brand and one of the biggest names in world football. We are proud to be able to bring players like Robert Lewandowski, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller to TV screens all over Africa.
StarTimes
StarTimes is the leading digital-TV operator in Africa, serving nearly 10 million subscribers with a signal covering the whole continent and a massive distribution network of 200 brand halls, 3,000 convenience stores and 5,000 distributors. StarTimes owns a featured content platform, with 480 authorized channels consisting of news, movies, series, sports, entertainment, children’s programs, etc. The company’s vision is “To ensure that every African family can access, afford, watch and share the beauty of digital TV”. StarTimes achieves this by combining satellite and terrestrial DTV systems to provide an open and secure digital wireless platform. The company provides a robust signal transmission service for public and private broadcasters, offers consumers outstanding Pay-TV programs, mobile multimedia, wireless Internet connectivity and convenient online services including checking TV guide; watching free live football ; chatting with celebrities and friends.