The humiliation of AS Roma a fortnight ago still sticks in the memories of those that watched Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich side dismantle the Italian giants on their own turf, with an imperious 7-1 victory. The result leaves Bayern sitting comfortably atop Group E, seemingly leaving Roma and Manchester City to battle it out for second.
"Roma is a strong team and they come here to take points, but we are hungry and ambitious"
-David Alaba
A win on Wednesday night would see the Germans qualify for the last 16 with two games to spare as they march onwards to greater heights, but left-back David Alaba insists ambitious Bayern will not take anything for granted: "Roma is a strong team and they will come here to take points and have players who can decide a game single-handedly," said Austria international Alaba. "But we are still very hungry and ambitious." Spain midfielder Juan Bernat echoed his team-mate's sentiments, suggesting that fans should not expect a repeat of the reverse fixture: "It will be a completely different game to the away fixture," said Bernat. "The first leg was perfect for us, it was a crazy game, but now things start again at zero. It will be difficult and very competitive."
High-flying Bayern will fancy their chances, however, and on current form this season it is hard to argue against the 2013 Champions League champions. Not only in Europe are they rampant in their quest for glory, but domestically as well. Guardiola's side sit atop the Bundesliga table with twenty-four points from ten games - four points ahead of Wolfsburg in second place. Die Bayern also come into the game bristling with confidence, after an impressive second-half display at the weekend saw them come back from a goal down to see off fierce rivals Borussia Dortmund 2-1. Goals from Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben allowed Bayern to extend their lead at the top of the Bundesliga table.
"We got our approach all wrong"
- Rudi Garcia
In sharp contrast, Rudi Garcia's Roma side have not been in the best of form of late. Confidence is low after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Napoli at the weekend, and head coach Garcia at his side's mental approach to the game, but insisted their were glimses that should give Roma some hope coming into their next fixtures: "At the start we got our approach all wrong. In the first half we hardly won any of our tackles, then we got into gear as the game wore on. The second half was totally different and we saw 25-30 minutes of the real Roma - that should give us confidence going into the coming matches." The result leaves them second in the Serie A table, three points adridt of Juventus.
Garcia's side are a tough nut to crack, however, and they will realise that even if they cannot pick up points against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night, qualification to the last 16 of the Champions League is still a possibility. Their main rivals for second place, Manchester City, have looked edgy in Europe so far, and at the moment second place is still there for the taking with three games of the group stages left. Roma just have to prove they can rid themselves of this mental block and get back to playing at their true capabilities.
Pep Guardiola still has a number of long-term injuries and will be without Holger Badstuber, Javi Martinez, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thiago, Pepe Reina and Tom Starke as they prepare to host Roma. The Spaniard is expected to retain much of the same XI that defeated Borussia Dortmund at the weekend, however, he may be tempted to bring Franck Ribery into the team, which could see Robert Lewandowski drop to the bench.
Marco Borriello and Maicon are closing in on a return to fitness, but my not be available for this fixture. Kevin Strootman, Leandro Castan and Davide Astori are sidelined and will miss the trip to Munich, but Daniele De Rossi - who was rested at the weekend - will return to sit in front of the four-man defence. Garcia will be demanding a much-improved performance this time around.