Bayern Munchen out to reclaim lost glory, but Sao Paulo is in the way
Brazil's best meets Germany's greatest as
Sao Paulo and FC Bayern Munchen collides at the semi-final match of the
2013 Audi Cup to be held at the Allianz Arena on July 31.
For
Sao Paulo, this is the first time they will take part in this biennial
event and the Soberano is expected to push their opponent to their
limits. But this is not going to be an easy task for two reasons: first,
Sao Paulo is playing Bayern Munchen on the Bavarians home turf; second,
Bayern Munchen is a very dangerous team on a strong hot streak of nine
consecutive wins at home. The Bavarians haven’t lost a match since
losing at home versus Arsenal, 0-2, on March 14, 2013 during the
Champions League. The Bavarians were on a rampage from that point
forward, demolishing Hamburg (9-2), defeating Juventus (2-0),
overpowering Nurnberg (4-0), dismantling Wolfsburg (6-1), submitting
Barcelona (4-0), winning over Freiburg (1-0), subduing Augsburg (3-0),
eking a win over Stuttgart 3-2 and repeating against Barcelona (2-0) on
July 25, Bayern Munchen’s most recent home game prior to the Audi Cup.
Sao Paulo’s last ten matches away pales in comparison,
after the team collected a meagre 3 wins to go with 3 draws and 4
losses during the stretch. Sao Paulo is winless in the final five away
matches leading to the Audi Cup, which raises questions as to the
ability of Sao Paulo to thwart the very formidable Bayern Munchen who is
very good at home. Sao Paulo’s last win away was on May 27 versus Ponte
Preta in the Brazilian Division 1 league where Sao Paulo managed two
goals versus the goal-less Ponte Preta squad. It is no surprising
therefore if Sao Paulo is pegged with *20.00 odds on SBOBET and *17.00
on Bet365 to win versus Bayern Munchen in this tussle, considering the
rather dismal average of Sao Paulo’s overall performance away.
It doesn’t help Sao Paulo fans that Bayern Munchen won over Sao Paulo the last time the two teams meet on January 7, 2007, 2-1.
For
the multi-titled Bundesliga squad Bayern Munchen, this is also an
excellent opportunity to arrest the team's fall from the top. After
being crowned champion in the inaugural staging of the Audi Cup, the
Bavarians has to surrender the championship to Barcelona in 2011,
settling for a runner up finish.
Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munchen, who'll play Sao Paulo carrying a *1.13 Betfred
and Ladbrokes odds, is expected to take this game seriously not just
because of the prestige and the honor but also because this is also an
excellent opportunity for Bayern Munchen to fine-tune their game versus
quality opponents heading into tougher competitions immediately after
Audi Cup as Bayern Munchen do battle at the DFB Pokal First Round
sometime between August 2-5 and at the Bundesliga - where they are
defending champions - starting on August 10.
The winner
in this duel between Bayern Munchen and Sao Paulo will face the winner
in the Manchester City-AC Milan tiff for the championship. Losers from
both groups will battle for third and fourth place finish.
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