Covid cases force Nagelsmann into a reshuffle at Bayern Munich

Berlin, Germany

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich must reshuffle their starting side - with five players in quarantine - before hosting struggling Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday in a final tune-up ahead of their top-of-the-table clash at Dortmund.

Bielefeld earned a 3-3 draw when the clubs met in Munich last February and have picked up four points from their last two league games.

Yet even with a host of stars sidelined, Bayern head coach Julian Nageslmann still has plenty of talent available against second-from-bottom Bielefeld.

"We are concentrating on the players who are there - the four World Cup winners and nine Champions League winners," Bielefeld coach Frank Kramer quipped drily.

Bayern are missing midfielder Joshua Kimmich and back-up striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who also miss next weekend's clash at second-placed Dortmund after both tested positive for Covid-19.

Midfielders Michael Cuisance, Serge Gabry and Jamal Musiala are also quarantining at home as contact cases, but defenders Niklas Suele and Josip Stanisic returned to training on Wednesday after previously testing positive.

A shock defeat at Augsburg trimmed Bayern's lead in the table to just a single point ahead of Dortmund.

Record numbers of coronavirus cases in Germany this week means a tightening of hygiene rules at Bundesliga stadiums.

Bayern's Allianz Arena will be at 25 percent capacity - up to 18,745 -- on Saturday.

There will be reduced capacity at all grounds, apart from RB Leipzig, who must play behind closed doors against Leverkusen on Sunday due to restrictions in Saxony.

A crowd of 13,000 is expected at Wolfsburg, who host a Dortmund side licking their wounds after their mid-week Champions League exit.

A 3-1 loss at Sporting Lisbon was Dortmund's third straight European defeat, blocking their route to the knock-out stages and consigning them to the Europa League.

Failing to reach the Champions League's last 16 will cost Dortmund around 9.5 million euros ($11 million).

"It's not only a setback financially, but it also hurts from a sporting perspective and image," said sports director Michael Zorc.

Dortmund still have star forward Erling Braut Haaland sidelined by a hip injury, but hope Youssoufa Moukoko, 17, can return after missing nine of their last ten games with knocks.

Belgium winger Thorgan Hazard is out after testing positive for Covid last Monday.

Fresh from thrashing Brugge 5-0 in the Champions League, RB Leipzig can break into the top six with a home win Sunday against fourth-placed Leverkusen.

Leipzig are missing Spanish playmaker Dani Olmo, 23, who tore a thigh muscle last weekend, a latest injury set back for the Spain midfielder who has been blighted by knocks since playing in both this summer's Euro 2020 finals and Tokyo Olympics.

One to watch: Christopher Nkunku

Leizpig's erratic form this season has not affected the 24-year-old whose 13 goals and 11 assists means he must soon be knocking on the door of selection for France.

Usually a winger, Nkunku, 24, shone with two goals and an assist in the thrashing of Brugge after moving across to attacking midfield.

Expect to see him again form a three-man attack alongside Emil Forsberg and Andre Silva, who both also scored in Belgium.

Key facts

12 - consecutive wins for Dortmund against Wolfsburg, who last beat Saturday's opponents in the 2015 German Cup final.

Six - Leverkusen are winless in their last six league games against Leipzig, who have only lost once (back in 2018) in ten previous meetings.

Five - wins in all competitions for Bielefeld against Bayern - the last was five years ago - compared to the Munich giants' 28 victories with five draws.

Fixtures (all times 1430GMT unless stated)

Friday

Stuttgart v Mainz (1930)

Saturday

VfL Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund, Hertha Berlin v Augsburg, Cologne v Borussia Moenchengladbach, VfL Bochum v Freiburg, Greuther Fuerth v Hoffenheim, Bayern Munich v Arminia Bielefeld (1730)

Sunday

Eintracht Frankfurt v Union Berlin, RB Leipzig v Bayer Leverkusen (1630)

 Maradona tributes the backdrop as rattled Napoli aim to bounce back
Preview fbl | ITA | SerieA | ARG | Maradona

Milan, Italy | AFP | Friday 11/26/2021 - 05:30 UTC+3 | 638 words

by Terry DALEY

Napoli will pay tribute to Diego Maradona on Sunday when they host Lazio hoping to put two painful and costly consecutive defeats behind them.

The football world honoured Maradona on the anniversary of his death on Thursday but Napoli are using this weekend's fixture to enable Neapolitans to finally say goodbye at the place where their icon was most at home.

On Thursday Napoli told supporters to arrive at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona over three hours early so they could be in the stands for an "intense" commemoration ceremony dedicated to the man who led a previously mediocre team to their only two Serie A titles and the 1989 UEFA Cup.

Maradona remains a God-like figure in Naples, where children are still named Diego in his honour and murals of the Argentine can be found all over the city, despite his grisly fall from grace at the end of his turbulent seven years in southern Italy, a failed drugs test and details of a sordid private life dogging him as he fled back to Buenos Aires in 1991.

Now Napoli fans will be able to collectively express their love for Maradona in the stadium where he weaved magic at the peak of his career, after being locked out by Covid-19 a year ago.

"Naples was always there for dad, and he was always there for Naples," says his son Diego Maradona Junior in a recent Sky Italia documentary.

"You see a sticker in a car, or a mural, or a kid on the street who has a top with Maradona written on the back, and that fills me with pride because he gave the people of my city unending joy."

Napoli will be hoping for a boost from the pre-match events as they take on Lazio off the back of losses at Inter Milan and Spartak Moscow.

The 3-2 defeat at the San Siro last weekend was Napoli's first of the league season, cut the gap between the league leaders and champions Inter to four points and cost them their star striker Victor Osimhen.

Osimhen is expected to be out of action for three months after fracturing his left cheek and eye socket in a sickening clash of heads with Milan Skriniar.

To make matters worse their hopes of making the Europa League knockouts are still in the balance following a fraught 2-1 defeat in Moscow on Wednesday.

Napoli's bid to maintain their Serie A lead has also been hit by the absence of Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who has been a revelation in midfield since arriving in the summer on loan from Fulham.

AC Milan, who are level on 32 points with Napoli and on a high after their win at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night, host Sassuolo with coach Stefano Pioli set to sign an extension to his contract which will keep him at the club until the summer of 2023.

Juventus meanwhile travel to high-flying Atalanta still reeling from their 4-0 demolition at Chelsea, four points behind their opponents who sit in the final Champions league spot.

Player to watch: Giovanni Simeone

While Napoli prepare to give Maradona the send off they would have liked to a year ago, another Argentine in the shape of Simeone is making waves in Italy.

After striking against both Juventus and Napoli in recent weeks, Simeone is having the best season of his life on loan at Verona under Igor Tudor and has scored his nine Serie A goals in his last eight matches.

Verona travel to struggling Sampdoria with the European places in their sights thanks to the 26-year-old's red hot form.

Key stats

1 - the number of games Juventus have won by more than one goal

25 - Atalanta have a club record-equalling number of points after 13 league fixtures ahead of the visit of Juve.

Fixtures (times GMT)

Friday

Cagliari v Salernitana (1945)

Saturday

Empoli v Fiorentina, Sampdoria v Verona (1400), Juventus v Atalanta (1700), Venezia v Inter Milan (1945)

Sunday

Udinese v Genoa (1130), AC Milan v Sassuolo, Spezia v Bologna (1400), Roma v Torino (1700), Napoli v Lazio (1945)