Match Preview: Bayern Munich begin title defense against Schalke

Bayern Munich players celebrate 2019/20 Bundesliga title win. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Bayern Munich players celebrate 2019/20 Bundesliga title win. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
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Bayern Munich players celebrate 2019/20 Bundesliga title win. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Bayern Munich players celebrate 2019/20 Bundesliga title win. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

Bayern Munich begins the Bundesliga title defense against Schalke at Allianz Arena.

After 27 days since finishing the last season with the Champions League title, the 2020/21 campaign is set to kick off for Bayern Munich on Friday. Die Roten is set to begin the title defense with a home game against Schalke.

It is going to be a strange campaign since players didn’t get a proper pre-season. The players started preparing for the new season last week after going on holiday for a couple of weeks. International players got a very small break as they were involved in two games for respective countries at the start of September.

Die Roten enjoyed good form in the second half of the 2019/20 season in the Bundesliga. They remained unbeaten throughout the Ruckrunde, dropping points only once in a goalless draw against RB Leipzig in February. They cruised to the league title eventually despite being four points behind Leipzig at the halfway stage of the campaign.

Schalke had a poor end to the campaign as they struggled to get wins after the lockdown. They didn’t win a single game in the last five games of the campaign, finishing 12th in the table. David Wagner has been backed by the club despite a poor end to the campaign. A positive result on Friday will be the start of repaying that faith for Wagner.