Bayern Munich vs. Juventus – Allianz Arena, Munich Germany 4:45 EST Wednesday September 30, 2009
by Jason Green at Predictem.com
In a big Champions League match on Wednesday night Italian power Juventus plays German giant Bayern Munich. Bayern Munich currently is in the lead in Group A with 3 points while Juventus is tied for 2nd place with 1 point after playing to a surprising 1-1 draw at home to Bordeaux in their first Champions League group match. Both teams in this match are coming off losses in their domestic league. In the last 4 matches between these 2 storied clubs Bayern has only won 1 match. A win in this game for Bayern will give them a solid lead in the group and pretty much assure them a spot in the knockout phase.
Juventus is not heading to Munich with a full head of steam, as they have played to a draw in their last 2 Serie A matches, which includes a surprising 1-1 draw at home to Bologna this last weekend. The big news for Juventus is the return of Diego from an injury. Since Juventus drew with Bordeaux this match is even more important, as a loss will hurt their chances of moving to the knockout phase of the Champions League.
Both of these teams are expected to make it out of Group A and while Bayern has the early advantage with 3 points Juventus has to start getting points or they may make an early Champions League exit.
Currently Juventus is in 2nd place in Serie A only 1 point behind Sampdoria and Bayern Munich is, surprisingly, in 7th place in Bundesliga.
Bayern is the home favorite in this match posted at 2.10 with Juventus being the away underdog posted at 3.50 with a draw at 3.30.
Bayern Munich Recent Form:
9/22/2009 Bayern Munich 5 Rot Weiss Oberhausen 0 (German Cup)
9/19/2009 Bayern Munich 2 Nurnberg 1 (Bundesliga)
9/15/2009 Maccabi Haifa 0 Bayern Munich 3 (Champions League)
9/12/2009 Dortmund 1 Bayern Munich 5 (Bundesliga)
8/29/2009 Bayern Munich 3 Wolfsburg 0 (Bundesliga)
Juventus Recent Form:
9/27/2009 Juventus 1 Bologna 1 (Serie A)
9/23/2009 Genoa 2 Juventus 2 (Serie A)
9/19/2009 Juventus 2 Livorno 0 (Serie A)
9/15/2009 Juventus 1 Bordeaux 1 (Champions League)
9/12/2009 Lazio 0 Juventus 2 (Serie A)
Both Martin Demichelis and Mark Van Bommel of Bayern are injured and will miss this match. However, the Bayern offense may get a boost with the return of striker Luca Toni, but he will probably not get the starting nod in this match.
For Juventus Mohamed Sissoko, Hasan Salihamidzic, Fabio Cannavaro and Tiago will all miss this match due to injuries. After being suspended for the Bordeaux match Giorgio Chiellini returns and is available for this match. Both Alessandro Del Piero and Diego returned from injury recently and the starter has not been determined, but Del Piero may get the nod because of his experience in big matches.
Bayern star Franck Ribery has been playing well as of late and he will be the big gun on offense for the home side. He has 4 Champions League goals in his career and he will look to add to that tally on Wednesday night.
Diego will make his Champions League debut in this game and generally when he plays well Juventus wins. He will have to help control the midfield and also provide some offense for Juve in this match.
Bayern will have to crack a Juventus defense, which has only given up 4 goals in 6 Serie A matches.
The Juventus defense all starts with GK Gianluigi Buffon, who is still one of the best keepers in the game. However, he gave up a 93rd minute goal to Bologna this last weekend that showed their may be some cracks in his armor.
Bayern’s defense will have to play solid in this game since Juventus really need to win this match and will attack from the get go. Juve may bring a couple of their midfielders up in this match to give more offensive support.
Bayern will look to control the midfield and that will fall on Bastian Schweinsteiger and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk. If these guys can win in time of possession it will give the home side a great chance to win this match.
Jason’s Pick: Juventus will be playing in front of a packed house at Allianz Arena, but they are no strangers to big games and they have many experienced players. Even though Bayern is solid and is at home I am going to go out on a limb and say that Juventus will pull off the upset here and take over 1st place in Group A. Both teams will also be careful in this match, as I see the Under a good pick for this match.