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Bayern Munich opens their bid for an 8th consecutive Bundesliga title against Hertha Berlin on August 16, 2019, at the Allianz Arena.
Bayern Munich
F.C. Bayern Munich is the most successful German football club in history with a total of 29 national titles and 19 national cups won. They have won the last seven seasons of Bundesliga and are the most dominant team in the league right now. Overall, Bayern has made it to 10 European Cup/UEFA Champions League final, winning five of them. The last of those titles came in 2013 when the squad completed the continental treble. Die Roten has also won one European Cup Winners Cup, one UEFA Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one FIFA Club World Cup, and two Intercontinental Cups. They are also the only German club to have won both international titles. Bayern Munich ended the 2018-19 season ranked 3rd in the UEFA Club coefficient rankings.
These are the members of Bayern Munich’s squad as of August 5, 2019:
1 GK Manuel Neuer, 4 DF Niklas Sule, 5 DF Benjamin Pavard, 6 MF Thiago, 8 DF Javi Martinez, 9 FW Robert Lewandowski, 15 FW Jann-Fiete Arp, 17 DF Jerome Boateng, 18 MF Leon Goretzka, 19 MF Alphonso Davies, 21 DF Lucas Hernandez, 22 MF Serge Gnabry, 24 MF Corentin Tolisso, 25 MF Thomas Muller, 26 GK Sven Ulreich, 27 DF David Alaba, 29 MF Kingsley Coman, 32 DF Joshua Kimmich, 33 Lars Lukas Mai, 35 MF Renato Sanches, 36 GK Christian Fruchtl, 39 GK Ron-Thorben Hoffmann, FW Kwasi Okyere Wriedt
Hertha Berlin
Hertha BSC was founded in 1892 and they were one of the founding members of the German Football Association in 1900. This squad won the German championship in 1930 and 1931 while finishing as runners-up in five different seasons. In Bundesliga competition, the Old Lady has won thrice and are the last team not named Bayern Munich to win the Bundesliga title. They were also group winners of the UEFA Intertoto Cup five times and semifinalists in the UEFA Cup in 1978-79. Hertha Berlin finished the 2018-19 Bundesliga season 11th in the final table, finishing with a record of 11 wins, 10 draws and 13 losses. They earned a total of 43 points, a far 35 points behind Bayern Munich.
Here are the members of the Hertha Berlin team as of August 1, 2019:
1 GK Thomas Kraft, 2 DF Peter Pekarik, 3 MF Per Ciljan Skjelbred, 4 DF Karim Rekik, 5 DF Niklas Stark, 6 MF Vladimir Darida, 7 MF Edward Lowen, 8 FW Salomon Kalou (vice-captain), 9 MF Alexander Esswein, 10 MF Ondrej Duda, 11 MF Mathew Leckie, 12 GK Dennis Smarsh, 13 DF Lukas Klunter, 14 FW Pascal Kopke, 15 MF Marko Grujic (on loan from Liverpool), 16 MF Javairo Dilrosun, 17 DF Maximilian Mittelstadt, 19 FW Vedad Ibesivic (captain), 20 DF Dedryck Boyata, 21 DF Marvin Plattenhardt, 22 GK Rune Jarstein, 23 MF Arne Maier, 24 FW Palko Dardai, 25 DF Jordan Torunarigha, 25 MF Sidney Friede, 27 FW David Selke, 28 FW Dodi Lukebakio, 29 DW Florian Baak, 32 FW Dennis Jastrzembski, 33 FW Daishawn Redan, 34 MF Maurice Covic, 26 FW Muhammed Kiprit, 37 MF Julian Albrecht
Who Wins?
Bayern Munich is the heavy soccer betting favorite in this opening match. Not only are they the Bundesliga’s champion for the past seven years, but they also have won 39 out of 68 top-flight matches against Hertha Berlin. However, the capital club has been an enigma for their Bavarian rivals. Hertha Berlin is the only team in the last three Bundesliga seasons to have taken points off from Bayern Munich.
In 2018, the Berliners held the champions to a 0-0 draw in Munich as they were the only team during that term that Bayern Munich failed to score against. They also defeated Bayern 2-0 at Olympiastadion, the first time in eight years that Bayern Munich lost a match during Oktoberfest.
Even when Bayern Munich won their last meeting at the Allianz Arena last February, Hertha Berlin was the more superior team in the first 45 minutes before a Javi Martinez header midway through the second half. The loss was disappointing for the capital team but they proved that they are always live underdogs against the champions.
But Bayern Munich has been historically successful in opening matches. They have lost just once in Match Day 1 in the last 17 years, winning the last seven of those by an aggregate score of 25-4. Bayern has scored an average of 3.6 goals in their last seven opening matches.
This year’s Bayern team is a little different though. Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery and their 474 Bundesliga appearances and 17 combined titles are now gone. The same can be said of defenders Rafinha and Mats Hummels who have a combined 632 Bundesliga matches and 13 titles together.
Striker Fiete Arp has joined Bayern from Hamburg while Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez are in after helping France win the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The champs may look different this year but the results may still be the same. I think the opposition has gone better but still not enough to topple Bayern’s rule. I’m picking Bayern Munich to beat Hertha Berlin on 8/16/19. Prediction: Bayern Munich
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