Champions Bayern Munich host Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday, with both sides in buoyant moods after achieving their main objectives for the campaign.
This will be Hansi Flick's final match in charge of the Bavarians ahead of Julian Nagelsmann replacing him in the summer, while Markus Weinzierl will be looking towards next season having secured the visitors' safety.
Match preview
© Reuters
Having already secured a ninth successive Bundesliga title, Saturday's fixture will have more meaning for certain individuals than any wider collective aims at Bayern.
Flick will not be the only man representing Bayern for the last time, with the long-serving trio of David Alaba, Jerome Boateng and Javi Martinez all set to bid farewell ahead of their summer departures from the club.
Robert Lewandowski, meanwhile, equalled Gerd Muller's 39-year long Bundesliga record of scoring 40 goals in a single season by converting his penalty in the 2-2 draw against Freiburg last time out, so the 32-year-old will be aiming to go one better than the legendary Germany striker by bagging once again against Augsburg.
Thomas Muller received a boost earlier this week, too, having been recalled by Germany manager Joachim Low to the national team's Euro 2020. As such, he will be desperate to nail down a place in his nation's starting XI after a fine campaign.
© Reuters
Augsburg, meanwhile, have ultimately proved vindicated in replacing Heiko Herrlich with Weinzierl at such a late stage of the season, with the 46-year-old guiding his side to a crucial 2-0 win against relegation rivals Werder Bremen last weekend.
After losing Ruben Vargas to a 13th-minute red card for kicking out at Theodor Gebre Selassie, Christian Gross's second booking for a trip on Marco Richter levelled the playing field in the 49th minute.
Augsburg took advantage from there, with Rani Khedira firing the hosts ahead with a scuffed effort, before substitute Daniel Caligiuri wrapped up a vital win by converting his penalty in injury time to move his side four points clear of Bremen in the table.
Weinzierl, who is in his second spell in charge at the club having previously guided Augsburg to the Europa League knockout stage in 2016, may now look to use Saturday's trip to Munich to judge his players' qualities against the strongest side in the division as he prepares for the next campaign.
- D
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Bayern remain without Tanguy Nianzou due to suspension, while Leon Goretzka and Douglas Costa will also miss out due to injury.
Boateng, Alaba and Martinez should all start in both theirs and Flick's final matches at the club. Alaba has agreed to join Real Madrid for next season, with Boateng's and Martinez's futures remaining unclear ahead of their contracts expiring at the end of June.
Jamal Musiala, who was included in Low's announced squad earlier this week, should receive a start on one of the flanks, with Lewandowski hoping for plenty of service as he looks to break Muller's record on the final day of the season.
Augsburg, meanwhile, will travel to Munich without Vargas after the forward earned a suspension for his red card against Bremen last weekend, so Caligiuri should start out wide.
Felix Uduokhai remains sidelined due to an ankle injury, with Reece Oxford continuing at the heart of the defence, while Fredrik Jensen and Noah Sarenren Bazee are unlikely to recover in time at this stage of the season.
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Pavard, Boateng, Alaba, Davies; Kimmich, Martinez; Coman, Muller, Musiala; Lewandowski
Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Gikiewicz; Gumny, Gouweleeuw, Oxford, Iago; Moravek, Khedira; Caligiuri, Richter, Hahn; Niederlechner
We say: Bayern Munich 4-0 Augsburg
We can envisage Bayern turning on the style in Flick's last game in charge of the club, with the likes of Boateng and Alaba likely to be highly motivated to keep a clean sheet in their last match together at the heart of the Bavarians' defence.
At the other end of the pitch, Lewandowski seems certain to break Muller's record and move onto at least 41 Bundesliga goals for the season in a remarkable feat which may never be broken.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bayern Munich win with a probability of 81.75%. A draw had a probability of 11.2% and a win for Augsburg had a probability of 7.03%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bayern Munich win was 3-0 with a probability of 9.11%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.56%) and 3-1 (8.16%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (4.8%), while for an Augsburg win it was 1-2 (2.15%). The actual scoreline of 5-2 was predicted with a 1.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Bayern Munich would win this match.
