VfB travel to Bayern Munich on Sunday evening (kick-off 17:30 CEST). The Bavarians are on a high following two deserved quarter-final wins over Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League (2-1, 4-3), either side of a comfortable 5-0 victory at FC St. Pauli in the Bundesliga.
“They’re having an outstanding season both domestically and in Europe,” said Sebastian Hoeneß at his pre-match press conference ahead of the Matchday 30 encounter at the Allianz Arena. “They’ve already broken the Bundesliga goal record and have an excellent coach in Vincent Kompany.
“The respect is there,” continued the coach. “Bayern are currently in a league of their own. However, we’ve already succeeded in ending a run once this season at Leverkusen.” VfB have come away empty-handed from two meetings with Bayern already this season, losing 2-1 in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup and 5-0 in the previous league assignment. “The reverse fixture was open for a long time and we had a goal disallowed for offside just before half-time. We quicky put that game behind us.”
Only Undav unavailable
For Sunday’s match, he and his team have a basic idea in mind, which doesn’t depend “on whether [Jamal] Musiala or [Luis] Diaz are on the pitch”, said the Stuttgart boss. “We’re focusing on ourselves and want to play the way that makes us feel strongest, but we’re also aware of Bayern’s high individual quality. Situations will arise that we have to take advantage of, but there might also be some that are unfamiliar to us. We have to build up momentum through courage, belief and endurance.”
Hoeneß has a full squad at his disposal for this task, with the notable exception of suspended striker Deniz Undav, VfB’s top scorer with 18 goals.
