Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich

May 1, 2015
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Bayer Leverkusen slipped to fourth as they shared spoils with FC Koln on the road, and die Werkself will want to defeat under-strength Bayern and improve their chances of clinching the automatic CL berth. Having clinched the title against Hertha, the Bavarians are slowly turning their attention towards the Champions League semi-final clash against Barcelona.

Unlucky draw with Koln

While Roger Schmidt needed some time to make this team his own, Bayer Leverkusen hit the ground running shortly after the winter break and they have been thoroughly impressive ever since. Die Werkself were very unfortunate to crash out of both the Champions League and DFB Pokal on penalties, with Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich taking advantage of their bad luck. Meanwhile, Leverkusen did really well to secure a top 4 finish with four games to go, although they still have a lot to play for. Namely, seeing as top 3 sides in Bundesliga automatically qualify for the Champions League group stages, die Werkself will give their best to pip Borussia M’gladbach to a third-place finish. Team’s seven-match winning run in the league came to an end last weekend as they shared spoils with FC Koln, but Leverkusen should have won the game having missed a first half penalty and conceded an equalizer late into the match. Nevertheless, with Roger Schmidt’s charges in excellent form of late and very motivated to defeat the Bundesliga champions, who arrive at Bay Arena without a number of key men, a home win appears on the cards.

Kyriakos Papadopoulos has suffered a shoulder injury and he joins Gonzalo Castro and Robbie Kruse on the sidelines.

All eyes on Barcelona

Another league title has been a certainty for quite a while now, and the Bavarians were officially crowned champions after the narrow win over Hertha. The players didn’t have a lot of time to celebrate having faced Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Pokal semi-final, and they were eventually eliminated from the competition after missing four penalties. Even if the treble of titles is no longer a possibility, Bayern will want to try and lift the Champions League trophy as well and no doubt they are fully focused on the first leg against Barcelona that takes place on Wednesday. As a result, Pep Guardiola has no choice but to rest his key men at Bay Arena, and with quite a few important players unavailable for selection, the Bavarians will struggle to match high-flying Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. Seeing as the game has no special importance for the visitors, nobody would be too concerned by the defeat, and everything suggests die Werkself are much closer to winning the high-profile tie.

Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery, David Alaba, Holger Badstuber and Tom Starke are out injured, with youngsters Weiser and Kurt tipped to start.

Verdict

Bayer Leverkusen are on top of their game at the moment and they have more than enough quality to defeat what will be Bayern’s second-string side. The Bavarians will sacrifice this game in order to prepare for the CL clash with Barcelona, so I trust die Werkself to emerge victorious.

Top pick: Leverkusen Draw no bet   1.70 (7/10) @ Ladbrokes

Alternative pick 1: Both teams to score   1.80 (4/5) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 2: Home win   2.38 (11/8) @ bet365

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