The gods of the UEFA Champions League draw continue to be ridiculously unkind to Manchester City. For the second consecutive season, they've been drawn with German giants Bayern Munich, who won the tournament two seasons ago. On Wednesday, they play each other in their Champions League opener (FOX Sports 1, 2:45 p.m. ET).
Bayern Munich vs. Manchester City preview: What’s Pep Guardiola doing?
Alex Grimm
Bayern reinforced their team this summer, most notably adding Robert Lewandowski on a free transfer from rivals Borussia Dortmund. They've also signed Juan Bernat, who's been their starting left back all season, and defender Mehdi Benatia, who's probably a week or two off from playing a significant part. Manchester City's big add was defensive midfielder Fernando, who's played more than Fernandinho thus far this year, while Eliaquim Mangala is waiting to make his debut. Bacary Sagna has been a backup thus far, but should get his chance to start Wednesday.
While very little has changed in the way City play, Pep Guardiola has made sweeping changes at Bayern. Last season, he played a hybrid of his classic Barcelona style and the high-octane 4-2-3-1 that Jupp Heynckes used to guide the Bavarians to a treble. This season, he's completely revamped the system, playing an odd formation that switches between a back three and four in and out of possession.
Pep’s side might look like a juggernaut once everyone’s healthy and has had time to learn the system, but at the moment, they look a bit shaky. Can City take advantage of their growing pains and spring an upset at the Allianz Arena?
Team news
The Bayern Munich injury list is currently a mile long. Rafinha and Thiago Alcantara are both long-term absentees, while Holger Badstuber picked up a fresh injury over the weekend. Franck Ribery is sitting this one out for unspecified reasons, while new recruit Mehdi Benatia is yet to get fully fit.
City's injury list is quite a bit shorter. The only player out due to a fitness issue is Stevan Jovetic, while Pablo Zabaleta is suspended.
Projected lineups
Bayern Munich (4-3-2-1): Manuel Neuer; Juan Bernat, Dante, Jerome Boateng, Philipp Lahm; David Alaba, Xabi Alonso, Sebastian Rode; Mario Götze, Thomas Müller; Robert Lewandowski
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Joe Hart; Gael Clichy, Martin Demichelis, Vincent Kompany, Bacary Sagna; Fernando, Yaya Toure; David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Jesus Navas; Edin Dzeko
Holger Badstuber's injury leaves Bayern Munich thin in defense once again. The formation here is mostly irrelevant, both because Bayern take different shapes with and without the ball and because they're extremely fluid. The important thing is Rode, or who plays in his place. If Rode or Gianluca Gaudino starts, it probably means Philipp Lahm is playing on the right. If Arjen Robben or Xherdan Shaqiri starts, Lahm is playing in the middle.
City's formation is less ambiguous, but there are just as many selection dilemmas. Manuel Pellegrini could opt to deviate from this projected lineup by going more defensive, finding spots for Fernandinho and James Milner over more attacking players, and moving Yaya Toure up the pitch.
Three keys
How well do Bayern’s players understand their roles? - Completely undefined roles and players who are learning to play with each other don’t hurt Bayern against sides like Stuttgart. Even against better teams like Wolfsburg and Schalke, they’ve looked far superior. But against Manchester City, Bayern’s defense will get torched if they don’t understand their roles.
Are City just playing for the draw? - We'll be able to tell a lot about City's ambitions from their lineup. Our projected team is a pretty balanced one, but if they start Samir Nasri and two forwards, they might be going all-out for a win. If they start one forward, Yaya Toure, Fernandinho and Fernando, they're probably packing everyone behind the ball and playing for a draw.
Martin Demichelis. Just Martin Demichelis. - It’s possible that Eliaquim Mangala is now blended into the side and that he’ll get the start in this game, but it’s more likely that Pellegrini gives him his debut in the Premier League. Pellegrini trusts Demichelis, and will probably start him alongside Vincent Kompany against Bayern. Demichelis has been surprisingly competent, but is still prone to complete meltdowns, and might find a way to lose this game by himself.
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