Bayern Munich winger Thomas Müller. (Photo : Getty Images)
Hard-fighting FC Cologne (8-9-9, 33 points) will try to remain in the middle of the league table and away from the relegation zone in their matchday 27 game. However, they will be up against reigning champions Bayern Munich (21-2-3, 66 points), who had been showing signs of vulnerability during their recent games, at the RheinEnergieStadion on Saturday, March 19th.
Cologne snapped a four-game winless slide after pulling off a 2-0 shutout of cellar-dwellers Hannover 96 at the HDI-Arena last Saturday, as reported by ESPN.
Young German winger Leonardo Bittencourt scored a brace for Peter Stöger's side at the 43rd and 61st minutes en route to Die Geissböcke's impressive win.
The win lifted Cologne to the ninth spot of the league table and nine points away from the bottom-three squads. Hannover was further pushed down to possible demotion to the 2. Bundesliga as they are 10 points adrift from safety with only eight games left in the German domestic top flight.
Meanwhile, the three straight defending champions Bavarians pulled off a 5-0 annihilation of lowly club Werder Bremen at the Allianz Arena also last Saturday, as per Goal.
Spanish midfielder Thiago and World Cup-winning winger Thomas Müller both scored braces for Pep Guardiola's current squad while this season's top goalscorer Robert Lewandowski contributed one four minutes before the full time whistle to complete Bayern's five-goal haul.
Thiago opened the scoring at the ninth minute then netted his second goal right at the stroke of full time while Müller scored his goals at the 31st and 65th minutes to pace Der FCB in the match.
The victory was a bounce back win for the Bavarians after dropping a stunning game to Mainz on March 2nd, 1-2, and being forced into a goalless draw with Borussia Dortmund three days later.
Guardiola and his crew are still set to win their fourth straight German top flight trophy, leading second-running Dortmund by five points in the overall standings.
The predicted result is a 4-0 romp for Bayern Munich.
Cologne starting lineup (4-4-1-1 formation): Horn; Sorensen, Mavraj, Heintz, Hector; Risse, Lehmann, Vogt, Gerhardt; Bittencourt; Modeste
Bayern Munich starting lineup (4-1-4-1 formation): Neuer; Lahm, Kimmich, Benatia, Alaba; Vidal; Coman, Götze, Thiago, Müller; Lewandowski
