Bayern host Bavarian rivals Nuremberg

BERLIN. Defending champions Bayern host Nuremberg on Saturday with German midfield star Mario Gotze set to make his league debut since joining from Borussia Dortmund for €37 million (USD $49.5m).

Friday, August 23, 2013

SaturdayLeverkusen    vs    Gladbach    3:30pmBayern    vs    NurnbergHoffenheim    vs    SC FreiburgHannover 96    vs    Schalke 04Mainz    vs    WolfsburgHertha    vs    Hamburg S    6:30pm SundayEintracht    vs    Frankfurt    3:30pmFC Augsburg    vs    Stuttgart    5:30pm BERLIN. Defending champions Bayern host Nuremberg on Saturday with German midfield star Mario Gotze set to make his league debut since joining from Borussia Dortmund for €37 million (USD $49.5m)."Obviously it’s going to take a little longer before I recover my rhythm and really get back to 100 per cent,” said the 21-year-old Gotze who has not played since tearing his hamstring in April’s Champions League semi-final at Real Madrid for Dortmund.France winger Franck Ribery is out with an ankle injury he suffered in last Saturday’s 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt.Javi Martinez, who has yet to lose a league game for Bayern, is in contention for selection again having been left out of the match day squad at Frankfurt after a long flight back from Ecuador after playing for Spain.Hamburg travel to Hertha Berlin on Saturday looking for an improved performance after they were hammered 5-1 at home to Hoffenheim last Saturday.Coach Thorsten Fink was so furious with his team that he gave them two days off, but both midfielder Tomas Rincon and defender Dennis Aogo have been thrown out of the squad for using the time to fly to Mallorca."The two days off had been meant to think about what they could do better in future, not to go partying. They couldn’t have made a worse decision,” said Hamburg CEO Carl Jarchow, with the north German team having leaked eight goals in just two games.