Bastian Excited By First Manchester Derby

Bastian Schweinsteiger admits he cannot wait to sample his first taste of the Manchester derby, having missed out on a competitive inner-city rivalry while playing for Bayern Munich.

Despite making 500 first-team appearances for Bayern Munich - where he won countless major honours, including eight Bundesliga titles and the Champions League - Schweinsteiger has a surprisingly limited knowledge of derbies and one city having two major clubs living side by side.

In fact, during his 13 seasons at Bayern, Bastian only made two competitive appearances against the club’s inner-city neighbours, 1860 Munich, and they were over a decade ago, quite simply because 1860 have played their football in Germany’s second tier ever since the 2004/05 season.

His first appearance against 1860 arrived a few months after his Bayern debut as a substitute during a thumping 5-0 triumph in February 2003. The following season, he then sat on the bench for a 1-0 win, before playing a full match during another 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture later that campaign.

1860 were relegated from the Bundesliga in May 2004 and have not been promoted since. They were later drawn against Bayern in the DFB Cup in February 2008, although Bastian did not feature in that extra-time win that was secured by Arjen Robben's dramatic 120th minute penalty.

As Schweinsteiger recently explained during an exclusive interview with United Review, the official matchday programme, he constantly yearned for the atmosphere of a local derby while playing for Bayern, which is why he’s excited to face Manuel Pellegrini’s Blues at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Asked if he had noticed the rivalry between United and City on the streets of Manchester during his first few months in England, Basti told us: “Not really just yet, but I am definitely looking forward to the derby against City. I think it is something very special and we should be very happy that we have two big clubs in one city that are also playing in the Champions League.

“I remember when I was in Munich we were always looking for that, but the other team at 1860 Munich didn’t play so well! [Laughs] We were always looking for a derby but it was sadly not possible. Here, we can play lots of derbies and I am very happy about that.”