Eurozone: Only a win for Bayern can save Van Gaal

"It is not true that we are going to sack [Louis] Van Gaal. The club will have patience with him until the winter break," Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer was quoted as saying this week. It was a vote of confidence as unconvincing as the form of the 21-time winners of the Bundesliga.

Bayern lie sixth domestically and are all but mathematically out of the Champions League after two consecutive defeats to Bordeaux. Only two wins and a Juventus collapse can keep them in the European Cup.

The club that uncharacteristically ditched Jürgen Klinsmann in the middle of last season are desperate not to change coaches in mid-season again. A recent 4-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt that sent Bayern through to the German Cup quarter-finals showed that they are moving in the right direction but the Champions League is where results really count, and losing out to the best team in France twice has hit support for Van Gaal (left) hard.

The Allianz Arena will go a long way to deciding the current coach's fate today. Almost 70 per cent of supporters answered a poll in Bild after the second defeat to Bordeaux saying they wanted the Dutchman sacked now, and he could lose his job if his side fail to beat Schalke at home this afternoon, repeating events in Munich of seven months ago.

Back in April having just been beating 4-0 in Europe by Barcelona, Klinsmann's team lost 1-0 to Schalke and he was dismissed. Falling behind in the league and being eliminated from the Champions League did for one of their own, so it seems unlikely Van Gaal, whose original appointment was questioned, would be capable of riding out the same storm.

Relations are strained with chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and he along with Beckenbauer would, courtesy of the international break, have time to find a replacement and prepare for the next game, against Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen – a match that could end Bayern's title interests if it goes wrong.

Van Gaal's signings from the Dutch league, Edson Braafheid and Danijel Pranjic, have not been a success. He needs the team's big hitters for the must-win match today but Franck Ribéry, whose bohemian attitude to tactics is never likely to sit comfortably with regimental Van Gaal, remains injured; and Arjen Robben is struggling for form and fitness because of the injury problems which have hit him since he signed from Real Madrid last summer.

Spotlight on... Travails of Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry has not scored for six months for Barcelona. He admitted playing for France while not properly fit and returning injured. And during the week he seemed to take an age to strip off and come on as a second-half substitute against Rubin Kazan before missing two chances for the team who have only scored three goals in the Champions League this season.

Silence fell over Pep Guardiola's press conference in midweek when a Russian journalist asked him: "Is it time for Henry to retire?"

You could almost hear supporters back in Barcelona saying, "He already has". With one eye on France's World Cup play-offs next week, the misfiring striker will be under scrutiny against Mallorca at the Nou Camp tonight.

Everybody's talking about... Atletico's king 'Kun'

Sergio "Kun" Aguero did his chances of being Chelsea's big January signing no harm with two goals against them on Tuesday night. He will get another chance to impress tonight against a Real Madrid team still reeling from news that Cristiano Ronaldo could need an operation on his troublesome ankle. Ronaldo has been warned that without another two weeks rest he could aggravate the problem and need to go under the knife. But Portugal want to make their own minds up and fuelling a club versus country war, Carlos Queiroz is expected to call Ronaldo up for his squad tomorrow.