Bayern Munich vs Borussia Monchengladbach: Three talking points ahead of the kick-off
By Sachin Bhat
Sans stalwarts, the onus on young guns to step up
Bayern Munich will be hard-pressed to enter the treacherous contest without the services of Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Muller, both of whom are suspended from the clash for accumulation of cards.
While the former is the league’s top goalscorer, the latter is the league’s top assist provider. So you can imagine the hosts to be considerably debilitated in the vanguard.
In come the precocious young guns. Hansi Flick is surely in for some tweaks, which could mean a rare start for striker Joshua Zirkzee, who’s waited in the wings long enough. The Dutch teen has shown great promise since bursting onto the scene, netting thrice and also providing an assist in seven games, and maybe it’s time now to test whether he’s ready to lead the line too.
Also, who can forget Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman? With 15 goals accrued between them in the Bundesliga, the wingers have been stellar in this campaign, the former especially, but now they will have to shoulder plenty of responsibilities upfront on their own.
Both were on target last time out against Leverkusen, just that the task will be significantly harder this time.