Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen: Schmidt´s men confident of upset

Bayer Leverkusen are confident they can do something no side has done since April – beat Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

Roger Schmidt’s side travel to the Allianz Arena for a much-anticipated clash on Saturday, as the third-placed Leverkusen try to upset the all-conquering German champions.

Borussia Dortmund – who amazingly sit bottom of the table this season – were the last team to topple Bayern in the league, winning 3-0 in Munich almost eight months ago.

But Leverkusen, fresh off a morale-boosting 5-1 derby win over Cologne on Saturday, believe they can win – and defender Roberto Hilbert said his team-mates are not going to Bavaria for a holiday.

“I’m not going to Munich to have a look around the city,” Hilbert told Bayer04TV.

“We are going to there to win. And we need to get a result in this game, as in the other [at Benfica in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday].

“Without wanting to be too confident, I believe we can go there with our heads held high and put on a performance.

“I think we can be really happy with the display against Cologne on Saturday. It wasn’t just a derby victory, but also the second win on the bounce in the Bundesliga.

“As I said, we can play our game and I’m sure we have got the quality to win the match.”

Leverkusen trailed against Cologne but scored four times in the second half – Karim Bellarabi and substitute Josip Drmic netting doubles.

It was a good response for a Leverkusen side, who despite dominating the match, lost 1-0 at home to Monaco in the UEFA Champions League in the build-up to the derby.

That defeat means Leverkusen – already qualified for the competition’s last 16 – still have top place in the pool up for grabs.

Bayern also lost in their last Champions League match, conceding twice in the final five minutes to lose 3-2 at Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola’s side bounced back with a 1-0 win at Hertha Berlin on Saturday, which came thanks to Arjen Robben’s stunning first-half strike.

Undefeated Bayern have won 10 of their 13 Bundesliga matches this season, and remain seven points clear of second-placed Wolfsburg – and 10 ahead of Leverkusen.

Bayern have conceded just three league goals, scoring 32 in the process, with Mario Gotze, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller and Robben all having scored at least six Bundesliga strikes.

Their many threats make Bayern a hard team to stop, but Leverkusen possess a rare good record against Bayern in recent years.

Of the last five meetings, both sides have won two – while they shared the spoils at the BayArena in October last year.

Bayern won 2-1 in Munich in March this year – the last meeting between the two.

Guardiola has no new injury worries, with the likes of captain Philipp Lahm (ankle), David Alaba, Thiago Alcantara and Javi Martinez (all knee) all sidelined.

Tin Jedvaj deputised at centre-back for Leverkusen on Saturday in the absence of injured Omer Toprak (knee) and he appears set to continue in the role.