Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 9y

U.S. international Julian Green 'ready' to face Bayern Munich

Julian Green is ready to face his former Bayern Munich colleagues in the DFB Pokal on Wednesday night, the Hamburg attacker has told Morgenpost.

And the U.S. international believes that Hamburg can beat Bayern, who will be without Netherlands international Arjen Robben.

Less than two months into his one-year-loan at Hamburg, Green, 19, is set to meet his parent club Bayern for the second time.

In mid-September, the struggling Bundesliga side held Pep Guardiola's team to a goalless draw at the Imtech-Arena, with Green coming off the bench for the final 15 minutes.

He then suffered a rib injury in training and the Bayern match remained Green's last outing on the pitch until last weekend, when the youngster was brought on midway through the second half of Hamburg's 3-0 defeat at Hertha Berlin.

Ahead of Wednesday's match, Green said he hopes to win more game time when Hamburg and Bayern meet in the second round of the DFB Pokal. "It's up to the coach, but I am ready," he told Hamburger Morgenpost.

"I'd lie if I were to say that this normal match for me," Green added. "I know exactly what is ahead of us. A match against an unbelievably strong side. And in spite of that: Maybe there is something happening for us. It's the cup, everything's possible. I have strong faith in our chance."

Hamburg are currently in the Bundesliga relegation zone and have only scored three goals in nine league matches, with attacker Pierre-Michel Lasogga finding the back of the net twice.

Speaking to a news conference in Munich on Tuesday, Bayern coach Guardiola singled out the attacker as the main threat. "He's very dangerous and we'll need to control him," the Spaniard said. But also warned that "Hamburg cover a lot of ground and they're very aggressive."

"We have a huge challenge ahead of us. It's a final, and the cup is always dangerous for the bigger teams," Guardiola said. "Either we continue our progress, or we're out!"

Despite taking part in the final training session in Munich, Bayern will be without winger Robben, who did not make the trip up north, German media reported early on Wednesday.

Robben missed the 0-0 draw at Monchengladbach with minor muscular problems, and kicker suggested that Bayern will rest him for the Borussia Dortmund match at the weekend.

Guardiola also gave an update on Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, who has yet to feature in a competitive match for Bayern this season due to a knee problem.

He said: "He will return soon. The end of the process is nearing. I can't exactly say when he'll be able to return to team training, that's down to the physios and the doc. When he has no more pain, he can train."

However, according to Bild, Schweinsteiger ended his individual training session after only 11 minutes on Tuesday, and the tabloid headlined: "Schweinsteiger rehab training mystery."

^ Back to Top ^