Three trophies still up for grabs as Bayern Munich return to form

German Football / Michael Lintorn / 21 March 2012 / Leave a Comment

Arjen Robben scored a penalty-aided hat-trick at Hertha Berlin on Saturday

"Bayern Munich already showed at the start of this season, when winning ten straight games and keeping a dozen clean sheets, that once momentum is on their side, anything is possible."

After months of poor results, criticism of coach Jupp Heynckes, underperformance by stars and even a brief Mario Gomez goal drought, Bayern Munich are back.

And fittingly for a club who flit between brilliance and ineptitude, incapable of locating a middle ground, their revival has been more sudden and spectacular than anyone could have predicted, their last three matches won by an aggregate scoreline of 20-1. Naturally, they failed to score in three of the four prior to that.

The Bavarian giants already showed at the start of this season, when winning ten straight games and keeping a dozen clean sheets, that once momentum is on their side, anything is possible, so will hope that their recent resurgence is occurring with precision timing.

A first treble in their history remains a possibility, albeit an unlikely one given the run that reigning Bundesliga champions and current leaders Borussia Dortmund are on as they bid to become the first team besides Bayern to finish top twice in a row since they last did it in 1995-96.

Bayern's thrashings of Hoffenheim and Hertha Berlin saw the gap closed from seven to five points, but with just eight fixtures to play and Dortmund unbeaten in 20, they are [2.62] to dethrone Jurgen Klopp's ensemble, who look great value at [1.65].

The Champions League on the other hand feels very much obtainable at [7.4] following a quarter-final pairing with Marseille, who are somehow in the final eight despite a fairly calamitous campaign.

The 1992-93 winners are ninth in Ligue 1 and had lost six successive encounters in all competitions before perhaps their most undignified defeat yet on Tuesday away to third-tier relegation battlers Quevilly after extra-time in the Coupe de la France.

On that sort of form, it is arguably an even less complicated tie than Real Madrid's with APOEL, and that quartet are on a semi-final collision course, guaranteed to avoid Barcelona until the final.

For now though, Bayern's attention will be focussed on Wednesday's domestic cup semi-final away to Borussia Monchengladbach, who are third in the Bundesliga and did the double over their visitors.

Arjen Robben, who is in discussions about a new deal, has warned fans not to expect another dominant victory like the Hoffenheim and Hertha ones. Given their struggles against Gladbach this term, it might instead prove wise to lay them for 90-minute success at [1.76].

Currently five points clear of Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund face Werder Bremen this weekend. Michael Cox assesses the tactical battle....

Our Bundesliga expert Kevin Hatchard casts his eye over three of the division's bottom four this week, starting with a Kaiserslautern side looking for their first league win in five months....

Bayer Leverkusen were shredded by a Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona in midweek, and Kevin Hatchard believes Wolfsburg may suffer a Bayer backlash this weekend....

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Saturday Tote Scoop6 rollover selections: £2million up for grabs

Daily Placepots / Joe Szekeres / 02 December 2011 / Leave a Comment

The Becher Chase over the National fences is leg 2 of the Scoop6

"Always Waining has to be respected bearing in mind his affinity with Aintree and the unique Grand National fences..."

There is £2million+ up for grabs this weekend for anybody lucky enough to land the Scoop6 before going on to land the bonus. Timeform's Joe Szekeres gives you his thoughts on the six races while coming up with a suggested perm...

13:25 Sandown - Drumbaloo was a very promising youngster two seasons ago and went off the well-fancied third favourite for the 2010 Cheltenham Champion Bumper, only to finish well beaten. He never seemed to transfer that Bumper ability to hurdles last year, but a change of stable seems to have revitalised him, an impressive victory at Chepstow on his debut for Evan Williams last time clear evidence of that. Drumbaloo is only 8 lb higher now, which isn't enough to prevent him giving another good account. Arrayan is another worthy of inclusion given David Pipe's ability to get his horses ready first time out and his record in recent big-race handicaps. Arrayan looked on the upgrade last season before unseating at Taunton on his penultimate start, when almost certain to win. He disappointed in the Imperial Cup last time, but we can forget that run and there is every chance he has improved over the summer. Poungach is the final selection in a tricky opener, given his progressive profile and lofty reputation, and one of the trio will hopefully navigate us through the first leg.

14:10 Aintree - Always Waining has to be respected bearing in mind his affinity with Aintree and the unique Grand National fences, so he is an obvious starting point. Twice a winner of the Topham, his style suggests the extra distance here should be of little problem. Niche Market is another with Aintree experience, having finished fifth in last season's Grand National, and he should be capable of going close. Nicto de Beauchene is the third and final selection in this leg. An impressive winner on his seasonal reappearance at Bangor last month, he is well handicapped based on a victory at Sandown last season and, with headgear employed, seems a solid selection.

14:30 Sandown - Edgardo Sol is the most likely winner of this handicap given the manner of his victory last time out at Cheltenham, travelling well for much of the way before quickening up to put the race to bed inside the final two furlongs. He seemed to have a bit in hand at the finish and is definitely worth siding with again. Venetia Williams' horses have come back into form recently and Tenor Nivernais can add to her good run. Tenor Nivernais, who ran well below form when well fancied for the Fred Winter Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival last season, was pulled up on his reappearance this term, but the yard was out of form and he can now regain the progressive thread.

15:05 Sandown- Many will be banking on Sizing Europe in this leg, but we're going to take the favourite on with Wishfull Thinking . Wishfull Thinking has all of the right attributes to do well at Sandown, given his front-running tactics and natural jumping ability, so there is every chance he could get a few of these in trouble from some way out. He is our one and only banker of the afternoon

15:20 Aintree - Buffalo Bob is Timeform top-rated and the main hope in the fifth leg. The pick of his form comes from Bangor last year, where he finished second behind Summery Justice. There have been a couple of subsequent winners emerge from that contest, whilst the winner himself is fancied to go well in the Welsh National later on this month. Linnel is the other one worth siding with in this contest and he should come on for his latest run, where he finished second. A lack of recent run seemed to be his undoing on that occasion and, with Arthur Moore rarely racing his horses in Britian, Linnel should be respected.

15:40 Sandown - Madison du Berlais has dropped so far down the weights recently that he is worth gambling on. Deep Purple is another classy chaser who has dropped in the weights and the step up in trip gives him the chance to banish his critics. The final selection is Do it for Dalkey, who boasts a progressive profile and is definitely a chaser on the upgrade. Two recent victories have seen him increase in the weights but we predict there might still be further improvement to come.

Selections
13:25 Sandown - 3, 10, 16
14:10 Aintree - 3, 5, 9
14:30 Sandown - 6, 10
15:05 Sandown - 9
15:20 Aintree - 11, 13
15:40 Sandown - 1, 3, 7
= 108 lines
............
The Timeform Jury were in great form in November, with 13 individual winners at up to 10/1 and 58% profit on stakes*. Click HERE to find out more.

*At advised prices to recommended stakes.

The quality clearly lies at Sandown today, but I'm going to stick to what I know and head to the leafy surroundings of Lingfield for today's placepot......

Wolverhampton's twiliight meeting makes the most appeal for placepot purposes today......

Wednesday twilight means Kempton, and that's where we're heading for today's crack at the placepot......

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