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Bayern's Robben ready for 'death or glory' showdown

By Agence France Presse in Berlin | China Daily | Updated: 2015-10-26 08:36

 Bayern's Robben ready for 'death or glory' showdown

Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben celebrates after scoring against Cologne during their Bundesliga match in Munich on Saturday. Michael Dalder/ Reuters

Arjen Robben is relishing Bayern Munich's "death or glory" German Cup trip to Wolfsburg on Tuesday where the host is still licking its wounds from last month's Bundesliga mauling.

Wolfsburg was hammered 5-1 at the Allianz Arena when Robert Lewandowski scored five goals in just nine minutes.

On Saturday, Munich sealed their 1,000th Bundesliga win with a 4-0 drubbing of Cologne for a 10th win in 10 league outings this season.

With a place in the third-round at stake in Wolfsburg, coach Pep Guardiola will be in no mood to rest his stars as Bayern targets a repeat of its 2013 treble of Champions League, German Cup and Bundesliga titles.

"This is a death or glory match. A top game - on a par with the Champions League," said Netherlands captain Robben, who scored against Cologne on his return from the groin injury which kept him out since August.

"You can't allow yourself any breaks and you have to be ready. Our goal is really clear: we want to reach the next round."

No team has ever started a season as well as Bayern, which has a perfect 10 wins, scoring 33 goals and conceding just four.

With 1,000 wins in 1714 Bundesliga games since the competition began in 1963, Bayern is peerless in Germany and battered Cologne with 26 shots on goal to just four in reply.

"One thousand wins shows how big this club is," said Guardiola.

"The game was difficult, we hardly had any room and it was almost impossible to play a pass in the middle," said the Spaniard whose side enjoyed 74 percent possession.

The Bavarian giant was back to its confident best after suffering its first defeat of the season after losing 2-0 at Arsenal in the Champions League last Tuesday.

Robben, Arturo Vidal, Lewandowski - who now has 13 goals in just nine league gamesand a Thomas Mueller penalty wrapped up the scoring.

Alongside Lewandowski, Mueller has scored 10 goals from 10 league games this season and Guardiola was able to field three wingers against Cologne with Robben, Kingsley Coman and Douglas Costa all showing off their deadly pace.

"I had already prepared a congratulatory letter for their 1,000th win, but I had hoped that we could send it out next week," said Cologne coach Peter Stoeger.

Having warmed up for its Bayern clash with a 1-0 win at Darmstadt, Wolfsburg will be the underdog on Tuesday despite home advantage after beating Guardiola's German league champion on penalties in the preseason Super Cup.

"This is a very special game. We are defending champions and playing at home," said Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking.

"Of course, we'll need a red-letter day to go through, but we want to win and reach the next round."

Halting Bayern's star-studded strike force will be Wolfsburg's main concern as its Brazilian centrebacks Naldo and Dante were exposed for pace when the sides met in the September rout.

 

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