Difficult road, clear goal: Why Bayern are confident of reaching cup semi-finals

FC Bayern welcome RB Leipzig to the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night for a heavyweight clash in the DFB Cup quarter-finals (live text and free Web Radio commentary from 20:45 CET on fcbayern.com and in the FC Bayern app). It will already be the third meeting between the two teams this season. We’ve compiled all the key information on the game in our preview.

The best photos from the final training session on Tuesday:

Latest news from Bayern

Even Vincent Kompany and his team aren’t spared from the strike-related travel disruption affecting the DFB Cup quarter-final at the Allianz Arena. “We'll certainly travel to the stadium earlier as well,” revealed the coach in Tuesday’s pre-match press conference. At the same time, he hopes “the performance is worth it for our fans who make the effort to come to the stadium”. So, it’s not just metaphorically that the Munich men have a difficult road ahead on Wednesday night – yet one thing remains clear: they want to be celebrating their first semi-final appearance in the competition in six years at the end. 

Read all the key quotes from the press conference here:

“Because we’re playing at home, because it’s a cup game and because the game is just an absolute must for us, I want to feel that we’re delivering what we can deliver,” demanded Kompany. The Belgian has already guided his side to two thumping wins over Leipzig in the Bundesliga this season, but the Bavarians are unlikely to have it so easy this time against the two-time cup winners. “We have to be prepared for everything. In the cup you don't win every match 4-0 or 5-0 - something always happens,” warned the head coach, who doesn’t need to give his team any extra motivation, however. “We’re really fired up for it,” said Aleksandar Pavlović. “It’s difficult to put into words how up for this game I am. It’s the same for everyone else in the team.”

The facts on the clash with RB Leipzig:

Opponents: RB Leipzig

When RB Leipzig were Bayern’s opponents under a month ago, the result was clear cut. However, the record champions won’t be blinded by that 5-1 victory, where Kompany’s men were actually 1-0 down at the break and only got the win with a dramatically improved performance in the second half. RB boss Ole Werner said that his side could “take a lot of positive elements from that. We played very well for 80 minutes there.” Now he wants to take this opportunity for revenge: “Firstly, it’s a different competition and secondly, that game also gave us a lot of pointers for how we can hurt Bayern.”

Our analysis of the upcoming opponents:

The Saxony outfit come into the quarter-final on the back of a 2-1 win at 1. FC Köln on Sunday, which ended a mini streak of two games without a win. Nevertheless, the second half of the season has not gone as well as hoped for Leipzig, and the ambitious club from the east are currently in 11th place in the Rückrunde table with six points from four matches. “The fact is our performances could’ve been better this year,” acknowledged Werner, while pointing out that this phase is normal for a team that was overhauled in the summer, which is why the RB coach is satisfied with his team’s current form ahead of the cup clash. “Bayern are the favourites, but we’re comfortable with that and can attack well from that role.”

Team news

Kompany has a full squad to pick from for Wednesday’s encounter. "It's a positive that the boys are fit and I hope it stays that way until the end of the season,” he added.

For the visitors, Suleman Sani (ligament), Assan Ouédraogo (knee) and Viggo Gebel (cruciate ligament) are absent. Castello Lukeba returned to full training at the start of the week and could be an option. Werner also confirmed that Maarten Vandevoordt will start in goal at the Allianz Arena.

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