Bayern Munich vs Magdeburg – News and Probable Lineups

Bayern Munich is set to continue their DFB-Pokal title defense on Wednesday as they host Magdeburg at the Allianz Arena for the second round.

The home side secured a 4-1 victory over VfL Osnabruck in the first round held on September 2, while their upcoming rivals triumphed over Bahlinger with a commanding 4-0 win on August 23.

Match overview

Bayern approaches this fixture fresh off a positive 3-1 win against Freiburg on Sunday, a result that propelled them past Borussia Dortmund and to the top of the Bundesliga table due to their superior goal difference.

Unfortunately, head coach Vincent Kompany was unable to be on the sidelines for that match due to an incident on Friday when he collapsed while watching a training session of the club’s second team. His hospitalization is expected to allow assistant Aaron Danks to continue leading the team on Wednesday.

Bayern’s victory against Freiburg was a welcome relief after three draws in their previous four matches across all competitions, as they settled for 2-2 ties with Augsburg, Viking FK, and Arsenal.

Despite conceding nine goals in their last five matches, the Bavarians showcased their scoring prowess by finding the net 16 times.

Danks will aim to guide his side to their fifth home win of the season, while failing to progress to the next round of the DFB-Pokal would mark only their second failure to secure a win at Allianz Arena this campaign.

Magdeburg currently occupies the fifth position in the 2. Bundesliga with 16 points after nine rounds, but they are just two points behind the second-placed Nurnberg.

The visitors made it to this stage of the DFB-Pokal after their victory against Bahlinger, and it’s worth mentioning that they’ve reached the round of 16 two times in the past three seasons.

In their last six fixtures, Magdeburg has recorded three victories, one draw, and two defeats, during which they managed to keep two clean sheets.

However, the second-tier club has not secured a win in their last three away games, suffering two losses in that time.

Team News

In addition to their absent head coach, Bayern will face the challenge of missing key players such as goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, forward Luis Diaz, and defender Kim Min-Jae.

While the home side would have likely implemented changes to their typical lineup, they are now almost certain to start Jonas Urbig in goal, with Tarek Buchmann and Hiroki Ito expected to provide him with defensive support.

In attack, anticipate seeing teenager Lennart Karl featured on the right side, alongside other potential candidates like Serge Gnabry and Ismael Saibari.

Regarding Magdeburg, their squad appears to be largely intact, allowing for the expectation that striker Mateusz Zukowski will be included.

Felipe Chavez is likely to play ahead of a defensive four that includes central defenders Tobias Muller and Anselmo Garcia McNulty.

Bayern Munich probable starting XI:

Urbig; Boey, Buchmann, Ito, Laimer; Daiber, Ndiaye; Karl, Gnabry, Saibari; Kane

Magdeburg probable starting XI:

Reimann; Nadjombe, Muller, McNulty, Nollenberger; Hyrylainen, Chavez, Musel; Ihoha, Zukowski, Atik

Though Bayern have experienced a lack of clean sheets recently, they are expected to secure progression to the next round without much trouble.

Even with possible widespread changes to the squad, Magdeburg will likely struggle to silence the top scoring attack in the Bundesliga this Wednesday.