The winter break is about to begin in Germany, but first we have one last big match in the Bundesliga to determine who finishes the first half of the season on top of the table. Bayern Munich have been battling with RB Leipzig in the standings all season, and now, with the two teams tied atop the table, they are finally set to face each other on the pitch at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.
Bayern Munich vs. RB Leipzig 2016: Time, TV schedule, live stream, and 3 things to know
As we head to the winter break in the Bundesliga, there’s still one huge match with major title race implications left to be played.
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images
This battle between the traditional power of Bayern and the newly promoted upstarts of Leipzig is one that’s intriguing in so many ways, but everything they’ve done so far this season gets thrown out as soon as the first whistle blows. All that will matter is what happens during those 90 minutes, and neither team is going to want to leave anything on the pitch — this is going to be a slugfest, and it’s going to tell us a lot about just where these two teams are as we head to the halfway point of the season.
TV: Fox Sports 1 (U.S.), Sky Bundesliga 1/HD, 2/HD (Germany)
Online: Fox Soccer 2GO, Fox Sports Go (U.S.), Sky Go Deutschland (Germany)
Match date/time: Wednesday, 2 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. local
Venue: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
Three big things to know
- Pressure is mounting for Carlo Ancelotti, and the Bayern Munich manager needs to get his team playing better soon. Yes, they’re on a five-match win streak, but their actual quality of play in that time has fallen well short of what Bayern fans expect from their team, and to lose this match with title race implications could prove disastrous to what confidence they have left — not to mention to Ancelotti’s job security.
- RB Leipzig, on the other hand, seems to be playing with more confidence than they know what to do with. They have a unique style, and they’ve used to it mount a shocking challenge to the status quo of the Bundesliga — and with a win, they’ll end the first half of the season on top of the Bundesliga. Not a bad way to introduce yourselves to the top division.
- What’s especially interesting about Leipzig is how young they are. Among players with at least 10 starts, only Marvin Compper, Stefan Ilsanker, and goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi are older than 25. Despite their relative lack of experience, though, Leipzig’s players have consistently risen to the occasion, facing any challenge and throwing themselves into it utterly and completely. They’re certainly not going to back down from Bayern, and that should make for an immensely entertaining match.
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