friendly match
14.08.18
A special test against a special opponent
In between Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal duties, Hamburger SV will play a friendly on Wednesday against no less than Bayern München. It should be a special fixture which will also reunite some old faces.
“To play for FC Bayern München is an absolute privilege,” said HSV striker Manuel Wintzheimer, a man who knows all about playing for Bayern. The 19-year-old new signing spent the last five years in the Bayern youth academy, a club who have won a record 28 German championships, 18 cups and numerous international trophies. Bayern are also the most successful club in the history of German professional football, winning six Bundesliga titles in a row. On Wednesday evening (18:00 CEST) Wintzheimer will be reunited earlier than anticipated with his old club. Between the 3-0 league victory in Sandhuasen and the DFB-Pokal fixture against Erndtebrück (in Siegen) on Saturday (18:30 CEST), HSV will take on Bayern in the Volksparkstadion in a friendly.
Bayern starting well
For Die Rothosen the fixture presents a special test, whereas for Bayern it is their last pre-season friendly before they take on SV Drochtersen/Assel in the first round of the DFB-Pokal on Saturday (15:30 CEST). Their first competitive game was hugely successful, hammering cup winners Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 in the Supercup final last Sunday. Bayern’s new coach Niko Kovac marked his return to his former employers in style, winning his first title in charge of Bayern. A hat-trick from Robert Lewandowski set Bayern on their way, with Wintzheimer commenting: “Every time I trained with the first team or travelled with the squad to a training camp I noticed that Robert is an amazing striker. I made an effort to try and learn as much as possible from him, such as his movement and his finishing.
Attractive opponents
For HSV there are plenty of bad memories against FC Bayern München, as well as against their new coach Niko Kovac. Against the record champions HSV have suffered a number of defeats in recent times, and Kovac lead his former club Frankfurt to two significant victories over HSV last season (1-3 and 0-3). The second of those defeats on Matchday 33 was also huge in condemning HSV to their first ever relegation out of the Bundesliga. The HSV coach Christian Titz stated: “We are meeting with the best team in Germany are expect an extremely difficult mach. However I wouldn’t be a very good coach if I thought about us getting hammered in this game. We will find ourselves in different situations, whereby we will have to set ourselves up differently. We need to stay solid at the back and try to play our own game going forwards as much as we can.”
Nevertheless, Titz will also look to use the friendly to give as many players as possible some minutes. Titz and his coaching staff will be therefore hoping to see the players perform who haven’t made many appearances yet this season, such as Manuel Wintzheimer.