Munich, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) - Bayern Munich will aim to extend its unbeaten streak in Bundesliga play to 41 consecutive matches when the defending champions take on Hamburg at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.
In their last league encounter, the Bavarians easily handled Werder Bremen by a 7-0 score. Franck Ribery netted a brace, while Daniel van Buyten, Mario Mandzukic, Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze all added goals in the rout.
"We're all delighted. We have to carry on exactly like that. There's a terrific mentality to this team, we really enjoy it," Ribery said of his team's effort.
"You can see we're brimming with confidence and that Bremen are more concerned with the lower regions of the table because they don't want to get dragged into a relegation fight," Bayern president Uli Hoeness said. "Those were the basic going-in positions prior to the match. We're on an unbelievable run at the moment. Once this team takes the lead they really rev up the motor. As a Bayern fan and club president you just sit back and enjoy it."
After such an easy match against Bremen, the champions will look to bounce back this weekend after suffering a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Premiership side Manchester City on Tuesday in the Champions League.
The loss to City will hurt a little bit less, however, as the Bavarians still won their group and advanced to the knockout round of Europe's most prestigious club competition.
"Congratulations to Manchester City," Bayern manager Pep Guardiola said. "However, I must also congratulate my players, who've qualified for the next round in first place. While it's never good to lose, maybe a defeat is precisely what this team, these coaches and these players need, to know how hard it is to win all these games, both in the Bundesliga and in Europe. We are a fantastic team. However we will also lose games, because other teams, players and coaches are also great."
Hamburg, meanwhile, enters Saturday's clash with the champions in 13th place in the Bundesliga with 16 points and coming off a 1-0 loss to Augsburg last week.
Hamburg manager Bert van Marwijk hopes his side will put in a better effort than the last time the club traveled to Bavaria, which ended in an embarrassing 9-2 loss.
"This comfort zone feeling is slowly starting to irritate me. It's almost as if these things are being forecast in advance and that will bother me until I find a solution," he said after being told his side was expected to lose.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga this weekend, Augsburg hosts Braunschweig at the SGL Arena, while Hannover battles Nurnberg at the AWD Arena. Mainz faces Borussia Monchengladbach, Hoffenheim welcomes Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg closes out Saturday's slate against Stuttgart at the Volkswagen Arena.
On Sunday, Schalke gets back to league play after a 2-0 win over FC Basel in the Champions League on Tuesday against Freiburg, while Bayer Leverkusen welcomes Eintracht to the BayArena.
On Friday, Adrian Ramos bagged a brace and Ronny's goal three minutes into the second half proved to be the difference as Hertha Berlin earned a 3-2 victory over Werder Bremen.
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