Lions looking for a good start at home

Grünwalder Strasse, Munich - After suffering a severe defeat in their season debut, TSV 1860 Munich are now expected to start their home campaign with a win. The Bavarians will host Karlsruher SC at the Allianz Arena today, kickoff at 15:30.  Munich's head coach Reiner Maurer admitted, his men "will have a little bit of pressure" after their disappointing beginning.

Maurer does not underestimate his next opponent, although he talked about "a little bit surprising victory" by KSC against MSV Duisburg.  "They are a good team; they make an excellent work with their youngsters. They proved to be a strong team at home, but they also revealed some leaks in their defense."

1860 also proved to suffer serious problems in their defense, but for this match all has to work properly.  "We want a win, a victory is absolutely prior," stressed Maurer while meeting with the media Friday afternoon.  "We have good players who can create them a lot of problems. All my men have only one aim: three points."

A major obstacle for 1860 will be missing two central defenders.  Necat Aygüt is injured, while Stefan Buck is suspended.  Maurer's words alluded that Chris Schindler and Kai Bülow should take their place, but the Bavarian coach did not exclude using former Hamburg player Collin Benjamin as a central defender.

The upcoming game will be the club's 500th match in the German Second Bundesliga and Jordanian investor Hasan Ismaik will be at the stadium. "He will introduce himself to the players. Maybe that could be a further incentive for them," said Maurer.  "They will be for sure focused on the game, no distractions. We absolutely want to erase from our mind our first game. It was really frustrating because we played good football, but we got punished because of our errors."

Last season 1860 beat Karlsruher SC 5-1 at home, a result and a performance that most of the TSV's fans would like to experience once again.  Will Maurer's men manage to show again a performance like that?

The problems which the club continue to experience in the management do not help.  The last news is that Professor Peter Lutz resigned and left his place on the Board of Directors. Before that there were a lot of talks concerning president Dieter Schneider's stay at 1860.

Let's see if the players will be able to let the fans forget about the off-the-pitch issues for 90 minutes by obtaining a mandatory win that would allow Ismaik lo leave the Allianz Arena with a smile on his face.