Bayern Munich vs St. Pauli preview: Rekordmeister aim for first win in three

Bayern Munich

Since they were winless against Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen, Bayern fans had mixed feelings towards the Champions League Round of 16 tie. However, it was against lowly Bundesliga opponents Bochum and Union Berlin that the Bavarians struggled in March.

After Leverkusen’s dramatic win in Stuttgart, the gap at the top of the standings is now reduced to six points. But, with no midweek game in sight, Vincent Kompany will finally have full focus towards avoiding a similar result on Saturday.

However, unlike their opponents from Hamburg, Bayern had most of their players busy in national team duties during the international break. Furthermore, Dayot Upamecano and Alphonso Davies suffered serious injuries while playing for France and Canada, respectively.

Although the clash against Inter will be season-defining for Kompany, a further slip in the Bundesliga could be seized by Leverkusen. Bayern lost to 16th-placed Bochum in their last home game.

Team News

Davies will certainly miss the rest of the season after a torn cruciate ligament in his right knee, while Upamecano hopes to return in May. Manuel Neuer and Aleksandar Pavlović will also be absent for the hosts.

Min-jae Kim and Kingsley Coman, who worked on their recovery process during the international break, could return to the matchday squad. On the positive news for Bayern, Kompany confirmed that goalkeeper Jonas Urbig, who left Germany’s U21 squad after a slight injury, is fit enough to start the game.

St. Pauli

Before this season, St. Pauli’s last home Bundesliga game was an 8-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in 2011. As such, losing by a solitary Jamal Musiala strike was a respectable result when the two sides met in the reverse fixture.

Alexander Blessin’s side further boosted their chance of survival by picking up four points from the last two matches before the international break. A hard-fought point from Wolfsburg and a rare victory against Augsburg put the newcomers five points off the relegation zone.

As Kompany pointed out in his pre-match conference, St. Pauli have been a tough team to break on their first Bundesliga appearance for over a decade. They scored the fewest goals (20) in the league, but only Bayern (24) and Mainz (28) are ahead of the 15th-placed team (30) in terms of goals conceded.

Both teams will wear a special matchday shirt to mark the International Weeks Against Racism and the DFL's "Together! Stop Hate. Be a Team" campaign.

Team News

After helping Australia beat Indonesia and China with three goals in the World Cup qualifiers, St. Pauli’s captain Jackson Irvine will hope to open his Bundesliga account against Bayern. 

However, Blessin will continue to miss the invaluable services of Karol Mets, James Sands and Morgan Guilavogui. As for returnees, Robert Wagner and Connor Metcalfe could feature for the first time this year after recovering from long-term injuries.