Bundesliga Preview: Bayern Munich v Borussia Moenchengladbach

Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben says his team-mates are raring to go ahead of their season opener against Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday.

Bayern – who swept the board in German football last season, winning the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and DFL Super Cup, as well as the UEFA Champions League – start with a tricky home clash against a side who finished eighth last term.

The European champions lost just one of their 34 Bundesliga fixtures last term and won the league by a massive 25 points.

Gladbach have a good recent record against the Bavarian giants, winning two of the last four meetings and drawing one.

But Robben is confident that his side, who lost their first competitive game of the season against Borussia Dortmund 4-2 in this season’s Super Cup final, will start with a win.

“We’re ready,” Robben told the Bundesliga’s official website.

“Everyone is looking forward to the fact the season is starting and that it’s finally about collecting points again.

“Naturally we’re not perfect just yet and are still not playing at 100 per cent, but I believe that’s normal at this stage of the campaign.

“We’re definitely in a good mood though, and determined to pick up a win in the first match.”

Robben says that last season is not on Bayern’s minds, nor is the 5-1 thrashing they handed out to Gladbach in the Telekom Cup final last month.

“It’s a brand new season so we don’t want to focus on what happened in the previous campaign,” he said.

“The fact we beat them 5-1 in the Telekom Cup counts for absolutely nothing.

“It’s a new game with new chances and we’ve got to make sure we’re fully prepared for it.”

The match will be the first in the Bundesliga for manager Pep Guardiola, who is sure to call on new signing Thiago Alcantara, while Mario Goetze is unlikely to feature after only just returning to training following a muscle injury.

Doubts emerged over midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger after he limped off in Bayern’s 5-0 DFB Pokal win over Schwarz-Reiss Rehden on Monday.

But Schweinsteiger has responded well to treatment and is now likely to play.

Gladbach will be desperate to bounce back from a poor showing in the DFB Pokal on Saturday, in which they lost on penalties to third-tier Darmstadt 98.

Manager Lucien Favre is likely to include new signings Raffael and Max Kruse to give them an important boost in the attacking third.