When they first met this season, Paderborn headed to Munich on top of the league, that didn't last for long however as Bayern steamrolled Paderborn 4-0.

A brace for Gotze and goals for Lewandowski and Muller was the undoing for the side from North-Rhine Westphalia.  Since then, things have been trending up for Bayern winning their Champions League group and remaining first in the Bundesliga since week five.  

For Paderborn, they've treaded around midtable for the most part hanging around tenth and currently they are in twelfth place.  Tomorrow's matchup will only be the second-ever between the two teams.  

The three-time defending league champions have been just breezing through the league once again this season.   They are currently eight points ahead of second-place Wolfsburg.  The team managed by Spaniard Pep Guardiola is the deepest squad in all of Germany.  

With Xabi Alonso's red card midweek, that makes selection much easier for Guardiola as he is going to start the Spaniard for tomorrow's league game and will give the vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger the nod for the return leg of their round fo 16 match against Shakhtar.  

Top scorer Arjen Robben, 14 league goals, should be a go for the game though. Although they defeated them handily earlier in the season, Guardiola said: "I'll be needing my strongest team against Paderborn."

Munich's return to league games from the break didn't start off too hot with a 4-1 loss to Wolfsburg and a draw at Schalke, but they picked it right back with a 2-0 win and an 8-0 over Stuttgart and Hamburg.  

Paderborn, managed by André Breitenreiter  are enjoying some success in their first season in the Bundesliga.  Pundits nailed them as "relegation favorites", but Paderborn had other ideas winning five and drawing eight.  

In their last four games, they have picked up four points all in the last two games which was a 0-0 draw against Koln and a 2-1 win against Hannover.  

Paderborn's top scorer, Elias Kachunga, has five goals, which counts for over a fifth of the team's goals.  Guardiola may be worried about this match, but Bayern should be able to see this off quite comfortably.  

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About the author
Noel John Alberto
Filipino-American sports journalist from Toms River, NJ. UMBC Graduate and aspiring physical therapist. Tennis editor and multi-sport coordinator for VAVEL USA. Writer for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Serie A sections of VAVEL UK. Sports aficionado. Host of the On The Line tennis podcast.