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| PROBABLE LINEUPS |
BAYERN MUNICH  Neuer Rafinha, Boateng, Badstuber Lahm Luiz Gustavo, Schweinsteiger Muller, Kroos, Ribery Gomez | MANCHESTER CITY  Hart Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov Barry, Yaya Toure Silva, Aguero, Nasri Dzeko |
Nigel de Jong is likely to miss out through ankle injury so Gareth Barry should be partnered by Yaya Toure in central midfield. There will be no place for Owen Hargreaves against his former club, however, as he was not named in City’s 25-man squad for the competition’s opening stages. Aleksandar Kolarov and Gael Clichy have been battling it out for the left-back slot under Roberto Mancini and the latter’s stronger defensive abilities should see him selected ahead of the Serbian for this tough away trip.
| DID YOU KNOW? |
- This match will be the first ever meeting between the two sides and they are two of the in-form sides in Europe at the moment.
- Manchester City are unbeaten this season and are currently joint top of the Premier League with their local rivals Manchester United, and Bayern Munich are two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
- City began their Champions League campaign with a 1-1 draw with Napoli at the Etihad Stadium where a late Aleksandar Kolarov free-kick earned Roberto Mancini’s men a point after Edinson Cavani’s opener.
- Bayern have won the Champions League four times, but started their campaign earlier than their opponents having had to qualify for the group stages with a 3-0 aggregate win over FC Zurich. They began the group stage with an impressive 2-0 victory away against Villarreal thanks to goals from Toni Kroos and Rafinha.
- Mancini’s men have scored 10 goals on their travels this season but they face a side who have lost just once at home to English opposition, a 2-1 Uefa Cup defeat by Norwich City in 1993-94.
- Home is definitely a happy place for the Germans as they have scored 17 goals at the Allianz Arena already this season, including seven against Freiburg and three in their last outing against Bayer Leverkusen.
- And it is not just the strikers who are catching the attention; goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (pictured above right) has not picked the ball from the back of his net for 838 minutes.
Prediction
Both teams are in tremendous form domestically, but the key difference on Tuesday could be their gap in experience. City, for all their quality, were caught on the counterattack against Napoli in their Champions League opener, and cannot afford to repeat that against the likes of Robben, Ribery and Muller. It will be Bayern's most challenging match of the year and might expose a gilded defensive record, but on their own home soil, the Germans ought to be slight favourites.
Editor's Prediction
Bayern Munich 2-1 Man City 
