Sports Pundit’s Game of the Weekend
FC Bayern v VfL Wolfsburg German Bundesliga’‘Friday, 8.30pm (Central European Time)’’
New Wolfsburg trainer Steve McClaren faces a baptism of fire in his Bundesliga debut against last season’s double winners Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
Bayern, who had so many players succeed at the 2010 World Cup, are without Arjen Robben due to injury, but Franck Ribery (who had a dismal time in South Africa with France) is fully fit, while Toni Kroos is back from Leverkusen to battle it out with Thomas Mueller for a run in midfield. There’s no doubt expectations are high for Bayern this term but boss Louis van Gaal insists he isn’t feeling the pressure.
Meanwhile for McClaren, who guided FC Twente to the Dutch title last term, he could give Wolfsburg debuts to defensive pair Simon Kjaer and Arne Friedrich. The Wolves have retained the services of Edin Dzeko and Grafite who fired them to the title two seasons ago.
On a Friday night to open the new Bundesliga season, this will be quite occasion as Germany’s past two champions battle it out. Intriguing and exciting.
Hamburger SV v Schalke 04 German Bundesliga’‘Saturday, 6.30pm (CET)’’
The Bundesliga’s late kickoff on Saturday will be highly anticipated as Felix Magath’s Schalke 04 journey north to take on the might of Hamburger SV.
Magath has lured Spanish star Raul to Gelsenkirchen in the off-season and after Schalke finished runners-up last term, there’s optimism the ex-Real Madrid man can make the difference. It begins on Saturday in the HSH Nordbank Arena.
Armin Veh’s HSV have plenty of injury troubles but big guns like Ruud van Nistelrooy, Eljero Elia and Piotr Trochowski are all fit and ready to fire as they try to vastly improve on last season’s seventh place finish. Tough start for Raul and Schalke.
Inter Milan v AS Roma Italian Supercoppa’‘Saturday, 8.45pm (CET)’’
Italian football is almost back, with the annual precursor of the Supercoppa taking place this Saturday evening and it is back in Milan after being played in China last year.
The 2010/2011 Serie A campaign is sure to be interesting with Inter depleted and vulnerable after the departure of manager Jose Mourinho. AS Roma, last season’s runners-up, are the likely candidates to take Inter’s title especially with boss Claudio Ranieri in the top job for the full season.
Ranieri worked wonders last term and has made some interesting additions to his squad in the off-season including Adriano and Fabio Simplicio. There’s no major acquisitions for Inter and they’ve lost the enigmatic Mario Balotelli. Anticipation is building.
Newcastle v Aston Villa English Premier League’‘Sunday, 2.30pm (CET)’’
Aston Villa started the new Premiership in superb fashion with a 3-0 home win over West Ham last week, despite boss Martin O’Neill resignation earlier in the week. Interim boss Kevin MacDonald has done an okay job at Villa Park and the Villains may still be strong this term.
Whatever the case, we’ll find out a lot more about Villa at St James’ Park on Sunday when they face newly promoted Newcastle, who will be desperate to mark their return to the top flight with a big home win.
Magpies boss Chris Hughton has made some sound signings in the off-season including Sol Campbell and Dan Gosling, but we’ll find out a lot about them as well, significantly to see if they’ll be a midtable side or a relegation battler. Interesting.
Galatasaray v Bursaspor Turkish Super Lig’‘Sunday, 8pm (CET)’’
Frank Rijkaard’s Galatasaray have started the new season in stuttering style and their midweek 2-2 home draw with Karpaty Lviv in the Europa League was further proof. Milan Baros and Harry Kewell bailed them out there.
But a lot will be learned about Galatasaray’s credentials on Sunday night when they host champions Bursaspor. The same thing could be easily said about the Green Crocodiles who have been written off by many pundits already. They started the new season off with a 1-0 home win last weekend.
Fenerbahce and Besiktas have made some big signings in recent times, so this game will be an interesting insight into how these two are travelling. Another eye-opener.