BVB face Bayern Munich in the DFL Supercup

The traditional curtain raiser for 2017-18 is finally here, with the two most successful sides Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, who both have five titles apiece, facing off later this evening at Dortmund’s fortress, Signal Iduna Park. This will be the fifth time since the revival of the tournament by the DFB in 2010 that these two Giants of Germany will clash for the cup.

Bayern will be looking to defend the cup after a 2-0-win last season but Dortmund would love to spoil the party as Peter Bosz looks forward to winning in his first competitive fixture in charge of the Yellow-Blacks.

Both teams come into the match in a poor run of form with Dortmund losing their last two games as Peter Bosz is experimenting with his squad and looking to find the best combination with the players at his disposal. His job hasn’t been made easier as talismanic vice-captain Marco Reus out for a long period after his injury in the DFB-Pokal final against Frankfurt and chief dictator Julian Weigl out with an ankle injury until September. With Sven Bender and Matthias Ginter both departing the club for greener pastures, but there could be competitive debuts for new signings Omer Toprak, Mahmoud Dahoud, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Maximilian Philipp.

Bayern, have been on similar lines in terms of form and they’ve lost their last 3 games on the trot but then manager Carlo Ancelotti has blooded in a lot of youngsters in these friendlies, so the results have not really been the priority for Ancelotti. Bayern have their own set of injuries to deal with as new signing James Rodriguez, Manuel Neuer, Juan Bernat definitely out with doubts about Thiago, Robben and Boateng’s fitness as well. Niklas Sule & Sebastian Rudy, new signings from Hoffenheim, touted to be used in bit-part roles since their late arrival after the Confederations Cup in Russia earlier this summer.

The two traditional powerhouses of Germany would look forward to lifting the cup for the sixth time each and set a very good tone to start the respective seasons, with Dortmund especially looking to start a new chapter with a new manager at the helm.