Bayern Munich’s injury crisis should ease when key players return on Saturday as Pep Guardiola’s Bundesliga leaders chase a club record with one eye on next week’s Champions League clash at Juventus.

World Cup winner Mario Goetze, winger Franck Ribery and defender Serdar Tasci are all set to play in the German league match against Darmstadt at Munich’s Allianz Arena with Bayern eight points clear.

It eases the pressure on Guardiola, who did not have a single fit centre-back for last Sunday’s 3-1 league win at Augsburg with Javi Martinez, Holger Badstuber, Jerome Boateng and Medhi Benatia all sidelined.

Goetze is set to return after four and a half months out with an adductor injury, while Ribery is set to end his misery on the sidelines after just two matches since last April.

Germany international Tasci is set to play his first game in the famous red shirt after signing on loan from Spartak Moscow until the end of the season as cover at centre-back.

All three are “ready and fit. I do not know how many minutes they will play. But it’s good news for us, that we have these players on the pitch,” said Guardiola.

If Bayern stop Darmstadt from scoring, it will give the hosts a new club record of six consecutive clean sheets dating back to November.

Guardiola insists they have almost exclusively “talked about Darmstadt” and only “a bit about Juventus” in training this week.

The 45-year-old will quit Bayern at the end of the season to coach Manchester City and after three years in Munich, he is eager to sign off with the Champions League — the one trophy which has eluded him so far in Bavaria.

Bayern’s last 16, first leg, clash against last season’s Champions League finalists next Tuesday is a key test and the Spaniard is undecided as to whether he will rotate his squad for Darmstadt with one eye on Turin.

The stats speak for themselves as Bayern have won four, and drawn the other, of their five league games against Darmstadt, who have never won in Munich.

Meanwhile, Goezte admits he is uncomfortable with any comparisons to superstar Lionel Messi after Joachim Loew’s words to him during the World Cup final have become part of German football folklore.

“Show the world that you’re better than Messi,” Loew told Goetze on the sidelines in sending him on as a replacement in the 2014 World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro before the 23-year-old scored the winning goal against Messi’s Argentina.

But Goetze has failed to hold down a regular spot at Bayern since joining them for the 2013/14 season.

“The public expectation definitely shot up. When you reach a certain level, it’s often expected that you do even better,” Goetze said about the pressure on him.

“The fact there are also phases when things don’t go so well is only human.

“I feel good, I am fit and in good spirits,” he added ahead of his expected comeback on Saturday, having started just four Bundesliga games for Bayern this season.

Source AFP

Lionel Messi moved past 300 La Liga goals as Barcelona moved six points clear at the top of the table with a 3-1 win at Sporting Gijon on Wednesday (Feb 17).

The five-time World Player of the Year struck either side of Carlos Castro’s well-worked equaliser in a three-goal burst in five first-half minutes.

Luis Suarez missed a second-half penalty days after famously converting Messi’s pass from a spot-kick against Celta Vigo, but made amends with a brilliant finish for Barca’s third midway through the second half.

Atletico Madrid are Barca’s closest challengers with Real Madrid a further point adrift in third.

The match had been postponed due to Barcelona’s commitments in the Club World Cup in December and, with a huge clash against fellow strugglers Real Betis to come on Saturday, Sporting boss and former Barca defender Abelardo Fernandez made nine changes to his side from the team that started Friday’s 2-2 draw with Rayo Vallecano.

However, in a match dominated by the European champions, it was the hosts who had the first clear opening as Alex Menendez shot just wide from Barca loanee Alen Halilovic’s through ball.

Barca coach Luis Enrique also made five changes, but the star front three of Messi, Suarez and Neymar started after their incredible display in the 6-1 thrashing of Celta at the weekend.

Suarez had the first chance to extend his lead as the league’s top scorer from Neymar’s inch-perfect pass, but the Uruguayan fired straight at Ivan Cuellar.

Messi broke the deadlock with a deadly accurate drive into the bottom corner from 25 yards to become the first player ever to bring up a triple century of La Liga goals.

Yet, the lead only lasted two minutes as a brilliant counter-attack saw Pablo Perez pick out Menendez on the left and his low cross was swept home at the back post by Castro.

Barca promptly responded, though, as Suarez showed great strength to hold the ball up and then lay it off for Messi to fire into the roof of the net with the outside of his left foot.

Luis Enrique’s men should have put the game out of sight before half-time as Cuellar flew to his right to prevent Messi from scoring a first-half hat-trick before Neymar curled the rebound against the post.

Barca’s demolition of Celta in the final half an hour on Sunday was lit up by Messi’s decision to pass a penalty into Suarez’s path to complete his hat-trick.

And the former Liverpool striker may have regretted not returning the favour as Cuellar dived to his right to save Suarez’s spot-kick after the ‘keeper had brought down Neymar. Barca have now missed eight of their 16 penalties this season.

However, Suarez made amends with a much harder opportunity 23 minutes from time when his left-footed effort curled in off the far post for his 40th goal of the season.

Arda Turan should have rounded off a 31st consecutive match without defeat for Barca with his first goal for the club, but he tried to square Messi’s brilliant cross to Suarez and the ball flew inches wide.

Source AFP