Robben-inspired Bayern eye record winning streak

Bayern Munich bid to equal a record of 10 straight league wins on Saturday when they travel to lowly Nuremberg for a match that could see them top the table for the first time in 21 months.

Inspired by Dutch international winger Arjen Robben, who has found the net in his last six outings, Bayern have embarked on a tremendous run of form, winning their last 13 games in a row in all competitions.

And the 21-time Bundesliga kings will travel to relegation-threatened Nuremberg full of confidence after scraping a 2-1 win in their Champions League last-16 first leg against Fiorentina on Wednesday.

Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said his men would be in no mood for generosity towards their local rivals.

“We can’t be handing out any neighbourly presents. We need every point and every goal, even if there are two players in the Nuremberg side who we really like,” he said.

Rummenigge was referring to midfielder Andreas Ottl and Brazilian defender Breno, both of whom are on loan from Bayern.

However, Ottl too was in no mood for sentimentality in the run-up to the match, vowing that Nuremberg would “fight tooth and nail” against their illustrious rivals.

Bayern have also been boosted by the return to fitness of French international star midfielder Franck Ribery, who played a full 90 minutes against Fiorentina for the first time since a four-month injury lay-off.

However, coach Louis van Gaal said his Belgian defender Daniel van Buyten would miss the match and possibly also Bayern’s crunch clash with fourth-placed Hamburg on February 28, after picking up a calf injury on Wednesday.

While the focus will naturally be on Bayern, their main competitors for the title, Bayer Leverkusen — currently top of the league by one goal on goal difference — are also in the hunt for records this weekend.

If Jupp Heynckes’s men avoid defeat away to Werder Bremen on Sunday, it will be their 23rd consecutive game without losing, ironically overhauling a record set by Bayern in 1988-89 when they were coached by Heynckes himself.

Third-placed Schalke are also playing away from home, at last season’s champions Wolfsburg, now fallen from grace and languishing at 12th in the table.

The other team still in the Bundesliga hunt is Hamburg, buoyed by the recent signing of Dutch superstar Ruud van Nistelrooy.

And the 33-year-old former Manchester United striker is bullish about his new team’s chances, telling Kicker magazine on Thursday: “We have enough quality and with 12 league games to go, everything is possible.”

At the other end of the table, Hertha Berlin, still four points adrift at the bottom of the league, have a must-win game against newly-promoted Freiburg, themselves only one place from relegation difficulty in 15th.

Fixtures

Saturday (1430GMT)

Nuremberg v Bayern Munich, Cologne v Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund v Hanover, Hamburg v Eintracht Frankfurt, Mainz v Bochum

Sunday (1630GMT unless otherwise stated)

Freiburg v Hertha Berlin (1430GMT), Wolfsburg v Schalke, Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen