Wolfsburg ready to pounce on weakened Bayern in opener
By Karolos Grohmann
BERLIN (Reuters) - VfL Wolfsburg are ready to take full advantage of an injury-weakened Bayern Munich when they face last season's domestic double winners in the Bundesliga kickoff on Friday.
Bayern have had a difficult pre-season, losing a string of players to injury and forcing club bosses to review their transfer options and Wolfsburg are eyeing an opportuinty.
"We are going into this game with the best possible attitude and when they show any sign of weakness then we want to be right there," Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking told reporters.
"We should not make ourselves smaller than we actually are. But we will need a really good day to get Bayern into trouble."
Hecking knows only too well that after Wolfsburg's spending spree which saw the likes of Nicklas Bendtner, Josuha Guilavogui and Aaron Hunt arrive at the club during the summer, expectations are higher than last season.
The Volkswagen-owned club will be chasing a Champions League spot this time to improve on last season's fifth place.
A surprise result in Munich would be the best possible statement of intent.
The champions are without holding midfielder Javi Martinez, out for the rest of the year with a torn cruciate ligament, as well as suspended Jerome Boateng.
With captain Philipp Lahm in midfield, coach Pep Guardiola will have to rebuild his entire backline with Brazilian Dante and Holger Badstuber set to come in.
"Wolfsburg are extremely dangerous and have brought in a lot of potential," Badstuber, who could make his league comeback after 18 months and two consecutive torn cruciate ligaments.
"They have a lot of hungry players who want to go very far."
INJURY WOES
Badstuber may be an option again for the left back position but Guardiola will be without injured right back Rafinha and playmaker Bastian Schweinsteiger while winger Franck Ribery will also miss the game through injury.
Midfielder Thiago Alcantara is also expected to be out for several more weeks while Bayern's World Cup winners are far from battle-ready after a long summer.
"We still need some time," Guardiola said days ago with Bayern losing the German Super Cup to Borussia Dortmund but bouncing back to advance in the German Cup. "We may have some problems until the winter break," said the Spaniard.
Last season's runners-up Dortmund also have a tough first game against Bayer Leverkusen who will be buoyed by their midweek 3-2 win at Copenhagen for the Champions League qualifying round first leg.
They have winger Marco Reus back from an injury that saw him miss the World Cup as well as central defender Neven Subotic, who missed most of last season with a cruciate ligament tear.
But coach Juergen Klopp will miss injured Marcel Schmelzer, Oliver Kirch and midfielder Ilkay Guendogan, still working on his comeback after missing last season due to a back injury.
"In Dortmund they are talking about troubling Bayern and we in turn want to trouble Dortmund," said Leverkusen sports director Rudi Voeller.
Leverkusen boosted their squad with striker Josip Drmic, hugely talented midfielder Hakan Calhanoglou and Brazilian Wendell and their attacking spirit was more than evident against Copehangen on Tuesday when they came from 2-1 down to win.
Schalke 04, third last season, want to make amends for their shock German Cup exit this week against third-tier Dynamo Dresden, with coach Jens Keller already under pressure even before they face Hanover 96 in their season opener.
Promoted minnows Paderborn, with a squad worth just over five million euros compared to the 500-million plus of Bayern, host Mainz 05 in their Bundesliga debut while Hamburg SV face promoted Cologne.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Martyn Herman)