By Dan Gaichas,
It’s a battle of the two teams with 100% records as Bayern take on the capital club Hertha Berlin. Hertha, like Bayern, have won all of their opening three matches. Both Bayern and Hertha needed scored second half goals to defeat Ingolstadt and Schalke, respectively. The capital club are off to their best start since 1970.
“Hertha have played well in the last three games. They are compact at the back, play very aggressively, are very dynamic and quick going forward. And they have a very good team spirit,” Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti told the club website. “It will be a difficult game for us. We have to be at our best.”
David Alaba, Mats Hummels, and Philippe Lahm are all back in training after illness and are available for selection on Wednesday. Thomas Müller returned the previous day. Jerome Boateng is due to start alongside Javi Martinez in midfield according to Carlo Ancelotti while Arjen Robben will start on the bench.
“[Boateng] is in a good condition. He has trained well over the last few days,” said Ancelotti. ‘[Robben] will be on the bench. He might play in the second half. Maybe 30 or 45 minutes.”
While Bayern will have four (perhaps five) players back, Hertha will be missing three of their players. Midfielder Vladimir Darida will miss several weeks after tearing an ankle ligament against Schalke on Sunday. American John Brooks (adductor) and Ondrej Duda (bone marrow oedema) will also miss the match.
That said, Hertha coach Pal Dardai will be looking for his “little, hard-working team” to ruffle the feathers of Ancelotti and Bayern to make their fans happy. However, there is a bit of realism coming in to face the four-time defending champions.
“But it’s not enough to just play well against Bayern. We have to be efficient and play to the limit,” said Dardai. “If they have a good day, then we have no chance.”
Kickoff for the match is at 1pm Central time on FS1.
