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GERMAN SUPERCUP : BAYERN MUNCHEN 2-0 SCHALKE FC
In what is the curtain raiser to the long and exciting Bundesliga season, Bayern Munich displayed signs of last season’s superb form as they clinically dispatched last year’s runners up Schalke 04 by two goals to lift the German Supercup and start their campaign with a silverware. The match had some special significance for football fans around the world as the evergreen striker Raul made his Schalke debut. But the match was not a sweet one for him to remember as Munich largely dominated the proceedings.
Bundesliga begins soon!
Luis Van Gaal had earlier termed this match as a hindrance to his side’s preparations for the upcoming Bundesliga season but that did not deter him from naming a strong squad. Miroslav Klose and Thomas Muller, the two sensations at the world cup for Germany started the game up front along with Ivica Olic who has strengthened his position in the team. The first half was a game of a very few chances and possession football, the proof of which was that Schalke had only one shot towards goal in the entire 45 minutes.
The second half started on a promising note and both the teams came very close to breaking the deadlock with first Klose hitting the post for Bayern Munich and then Raul forcing the Bayern keeper into making a one handed save on the other side of the net in the space of 2 minutes . But Bayern finally broke the deadlock when Klose latched onto a through pass from his teammates before going past the goalkeeper and selflessly nicking the ball towards Thomas Muller who coolly slotted home the opener. With the Bayern Munich fans celebrating the team’s goal, Schalke desperately looked for the winner. But all was over when Ivica Olic danced past defenders in the Schalke penalty box and passed the ball in the path of Miroslav Klose who slotted home a routine goal and ensuring that the Supercup returns to Munich .
Raul had a rather unimpressive debut but shone on a few particular occasions and it remains to be seen how well he copes up at Schalke where he would have to do some extra work in the absence of top class playmakers. But the future looks rosy for Bayern Munich and they would certainly start as favourites for the Bundesliga crown.
