1860 Munich face Jena with much needed reinforcement | OneFootball

Manuel Veth –

1860 Munich vs Jena – Saturday, September 14, 13:00BST/14:00CEST – Grünwalder Stadion, Munich, Germany

1860 Munich made good use of the international break. The club brought in loan players Tim Rieder from Augsburg and striker Prince Owusu from Armenia Bielefeld.

Both Rieder (more on him below) and Owusu add some much-needed depth to the squad. Owusu’s return from Armenia Bielefeld, in particular, is good news for a club that has been awfully goal starved in recent weeks.

With two new players arriving the international break could have been a perfect time for the Lions to prepare for a must-win game against Jena. Instead, the club is once again discussing politics, at the centre of the discussions? Head coach Daniel Bierofka.

A Q&A published by the club also discussed the future of head coach Bierofka. The club both stated that Bierofka is not defied of the usual mechanisms of the game but also that the club would not be able to keep the head coach should he get an offer from a top club.

Although overall the post published on the club’s homepage answers many important questions, the part about Bierofka unleashed a needless debate in Munich’s media. Bierofka has been perhaps the only person at the club that could bridge the complicated relationships between the club and investor Hasan Ismaik.

Needlessly instrumentalised by the club Ismaik’s side, predictably has reacted as well. Overall, the head coach is somewhat damaged and puts further pressure on the team ahead against Carl Zeiss Jena.

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Jena, in the meantime, have positive memories of last season. Carl Zeiss won both games against 1860 last season but have been without a win in the first seven games of the season. On top of that Jena have had serious injury problems and lost striker Julian Günther-Schmidt to a meniscus injury the regional cup game against Grossengotten.

For 1860 Munich, Jena will be a good opportunity to collect three points. At the same time, off-field politics could seriously jeopardize on-field success.

1860 Munich vs Jena – Players to look out for:

Tim Rieder #23 – 1860 Munich

The addition of Tim Rieder provides head coach Bierofka with some much-needed depth in defence. Rieder joins the club on loan from Augsburg but has spent the last two seasons at Darmstadt and Slask Wroclaw. A former Bayern Munich product the 26-year-old has played 28 games in Poland and Bundesliga 2 over the last two seasons. “Like in the last two years I want to collect much needed playing time,” Rieder said in a statement published on FC Augsburg’s homepage.

Daniele Gabriele #7 – Carl-Zeiss Jena

Without Julian Günther-Schmidt Daniele Gabriele will carry the burden in the attack. The German-Italian was signed from Wacker Innsbruck this summer. In seven Liga 3 games, Gabriele has scored two goals in seven games.

1860 Munich vs Jena – Match Stats

Futbolgrad Network Prediction: 1860 Munich vs Jena – 2-0

1860 Munich vs Jena – Lineups

1860 Munich:

Formation: 4-1-4-1

Bonmann – Willsch, Weber, Rieder, Steinhart – Wein – Greilinger, Bekiroglu, Mölders, Klaasen – Owusu

Head Coach: Daniel Bierofka

Carl-Zeiss Jena:

Formation: 3-2-3-2

Coppers – Rohr, Maranda, Schorr – Käuper, Hammann – Zejnullahu, Eckardt, Obermair – Donkor, Gabriele

Head Coach: Lukas Kwasniok