The Daily Bee: The Eve of Der Klassiker

It’s Friday, and we are now barely 24 hours away from Der Klassiker. For some reason, I don’t feel quite the same excitement coming from the fanbase that I normally feel. I think it’s because Wednesday’s Champions League match was so important, and neither team is on top of the table, so this matchup just doesn’t feel as important as as it has in previous years. Either way, I’m sure tomorrow we’ll all be super nervous and irritable, until the match either makes or ruins all of our weekends.

I think it may have to do with the Sebastian Haller’s absence, as well as the wider injury crisis plaguing BVB. To me, it feels like the idea of a title chase is so much of an afterthought with all these absences that the game tomorrow doesn’t matter. Does this make me a pessimist? A defeatist? Let me know in the comments if I lack a winning mentality or whatever.

For me, the New York Mets are playing their first playoff game in six years tonight (and I am suuuuuper pumped), so depending on the outcome of that game, I may already be in a super irritable mood tomorrow, in which case I apologize in advance. On the bright side, if the Mets lose tonight, there’s no way BVB can possibly make me feel any worse come match time tomorrow!

The Links

• The Bundesliga continued its respectable showings in European competitions, with both Union Berlin and SC Freiburg winning their respective matches in the Europa League yesterday.
• According to Kicker, Edin Terzic was full of praise for Youssoufa Moukoko’s performance against Sevilla on Wednesday.
• Before they ultimately decided on Xabi Alonso, Bayer Leverkusen approached the recently-sacked Thomas Tuchel, but the former BVB and Chelsea manager turned them down.
• Footy Scran Friday™: A very, very sad looking pizza at Celtic. First of all, it’s so small that it can only accommodate four (4) pieces of pepperoni, one on each “slice”, if you could even call them that. The crust is as white as snow, so I can only presume the inside is a chewy, doughy mess.

The Daily Buzz

Should Edin Terzic start Youssoufa Moukoko against Bayern tomorrow?