Bayern Munich: 3 things to watch for in the DFL Supercup

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will meet for the first time in the 2020/21 season.

The Bundesliga’s best will face each other in the DFL Supercup on Wednesday night. Bayern Munich will be in search of yet another trophy as they look to defeat Borussia Dortmund in a Supercup edition of Der Klassiker. Wednesday’s game at Allianz Arena will be the first meeting of the 2020/21 season between the two Bundesliga clubs.

Here are three things to watch for in the DFL Supercup.

Bouncing back from shock defeats

Neither club will be entering this match unbeaten. In the second matchday of the Bundesliga, Bayern fell to Hoffenheim, while Dortmund suffered defeat against Augsburg. Both results were surprising as the giants rarely suffer defeats very early in the season. Coming into this game on the back of defeats should provide an interesting aspect to the match as the morale on both sides could be lower than expected entering this fixture.

It will be intriguing to see how Bayern start this match. Will they be hungry for a victory and come out looking for goals? Or will they take up a conservative approach to avoid going down early in the game as they did against Hoffenheim?

Fatigue an issue

The German Champions have been playing matches in quick succession, piling up fatigue in players. The players looked tired during their defeat to Hoffenheim after playing Sevilla in the UEFA Supercup just three days prior. Der Klassiker in Supercup on Wednesday will make it three games in six days for Die Roten, presenting a tougher challenge, especially so early into the season.

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Andrej Kramaric caused the Bayern backline plenty of issues. The Croatian striker was consistently finding space behind Die Roten’s defense during Hoffenheim’s victory. The high line defense has allowed the European Champions to dominate throughout 2020, but Hoffenheim showed how to exploit the space behind defense by winning the ball higher up the pitch.

Dortmund will be looking to execute a similar plan on Wednesday. Rekordmeister will be up against another talented attacking unit when they face Erling Braut Haaland and Jadon Sancho. The Norwegian striker and English winger are very lethal players when they are at their best. If fatigue sets in early than expected in this match, then Dortmund could find similar success on the attack that Hoffenheim displayed.

Lewandowski vs. Haaland

The veteran striker and the up and comer will face each other for the first time this season. Robert Lewandowski is coming off his best season to date in the Bundesliga in terms of goal scoring. Meanwhile, Erling Braut Haaland enjoyed a phenomenal start to life in Germany after joining Dortmund in January.

Haaland will be looking to solidify himself as the best young striker in the world this season. These two players certainly have the potential to be the difference makers for their clubs in this fixture. Haaland has yet to score against Die Roten, so this would certainly be an occasion to do so. For Lewandowski, he has only found the back of the net once so far in the 2020/21 season. No goals from open play have been scored by the Polish striker yet, and he will be looking to change that against his former club.