Bayern Munich aim to improve in Bundesliga

Bayern Munich aim to continue their positive trend with a Bundesliga victory over old rivals Borussia Moenchengladbach Friday night.

However, a 1-0 Champions League win over Maccabi Haifa and a 3-0 defeat of Hanover 96 in the league have not fully restored peace, with the Bild daily reporting on Thursday that coach Louis van Gaal and club president Uli Hoeness are at odds over the squad and tactics.

"We made it clear to van Gaal before the (Arjen) Robben transfer that you can play 4-4-2 with these players. We want to play 4-4-2," Hoeness told Bild.

Van Gaal said: "I don't think that Hoeness is right when he decides on a format. That always depends on the players and their quality. The board can give advice, but I am the one who has to decide."

Van Gaal and Hoeness reportedly also disagree over the hiring of new players during the winter break.

On the pitch, the last two games have given reason for hope in Munich and the game on Friday is to confirm this trend. The stars Robben and Franck Ribery are back in training from injuries and Robben will be a sub likely to get a few minutes playing time.

Bayern have improved to fourth place with 24 points which earns them fourth place with three games left until the hibernation period. Ahead of them are in-form Bayer Leverkusen (30), Werder Bremen (27) and Schalke (25).

"The table looks much better us now," said right back Philipp Lahm, and central defender Daniel van Buyten insisted that "we are back."

Van Gaal said he will not change his winning team from the last two games which means that Mario Gomez can try to score again alongside Ivica Olic while frustrated Luca Toni remains on the subs' bench.

The Bundesliga top scorer, however, plays for Leverkusen in the form of Stefan Kiessling, whose dozen goals in 14 matches are six better than the next best attacker.

There is hope again that Leverkusen can finally shake off its role as perennial Bundesliga runner-up as Jupp Heynckes' team is playing classy football and is yet to lose going into Saturday's away match at Hanover 96.

"Of course every one of us wants to be champion. But for now we must say that we want to play for the title ... It is a lot of hard work," Kiessling told Thursday's edition of Kicker sports magazine.

Elsewhere, Bremen take an unbeaten 20-game streak into a Sunday date at struggling Cologne, with Schalke up against hapless Hertha the same day.

On Saturday, SV Hamburg hope for a boost from a midweek 2-0 Europa League victory over Rapid Vienna when they host TSG Hoffenheim with the aim of winning for the first time in seven games.

Champions VfL Wolfsburg host SC Freiburg, beleaguered VfB Stuttgart meet VfL Bochum in a drop zone duel, Eintracht Frankfurt host Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund take on Nuremberg.

Last updated on Dec 3^rd, 2009 at 19:36 pm IST--DPA