Preview: Bayern v Roma
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Article summary
FC Bayern München need only beat AS Roma again to make the last 16 but the visitors are desperate to make up for the 7-1 loss that Rudi Garcia called "an accident".
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Article body
• Bayern will go through if they follow their 7-1 win at Roma with another victory
• Josep Guardiola warns Roma don't want to repeat "what happened two weeks ago"
• Roma still have two-point advantage over third-placed Manchester City FC in Group E
•Rudi Garcia says the 7-1 loss was "an accident"
• However, the Roma coach knows the odds are against his team
Possible lineups
Bayern: Neuer; Boateng, Benatia, Alaba; Lahm, Alonso, Bernat; Robben, Müller, Götze; Lewandowski.
• Out: Schweinsteiger (patellar tendon), Thiago Alcántara (knee), Reina (calf), Starke (ankle), Martínez (knee), Badstuber (thigh)
Roma: De Sanctis; Torosidis, Manolas, Yanga-Mbiwa, Holebas; De Rossi, Keita, Nainggolan; Pjanić; Totti, Gervinho.
• Out: Strootman (knee), Castán (thigh)
Josep Guardiola, Bayern coach
Tomorrow a new game is waiting for us. And we have the chance to go through to the knockout stage. Roma want to win tomorrow, so do we. We have tried to study them as well as possible. The most important thing is for us to play our style. If we do that, the result will automatically be a good one.
I don't know what advantage we have. The Roma squad doesn't want to let what happened two weeks ago happen again. Those players have their pride and they will give everything to get a good result tomorrow.
Recent results have been good, we are on a good path. But this is a new game. The Roma players will give their very best, that's a question of love for the own club and their own profession. But for us it will be the chance of qualifying early and that is what we want to do tomorrow. This would give us a good advantage for the next games in the Bundesliga and in the Champions League too.
It is my sixth year in the Champions League. And I can tell you, it is not very easy to win all the games. Normally you drop a point once in a while. Roma have lots of great players. Even if they were not in the Champions League in recent years, they have the players to do very well in this competition. Just look at players like [Francesco] Totti, [Daniele] De Rossi, [Miralem] Pjanić or Gervinho.
Rudi Garcia, Roma coach
Tomorrow we do not have much of a chance of achieving a good result. But the result is not everything. The performance is important too. What happened in Rome was an accident. We have not been playing too badly in Serie A. We have to remember how we played at the beginning of the season. That is what we have to do again.
In recent weeks I have only seen a Roma side trying their very best. There are still some players injured, but for the next few weeks I can't do anything about this. I have to work with the players I have.
No one has won or even drawn against Bayern in the Champions League this season. But as I said before, the result is not everything. I want to see my team playing very aggressively.
I think we have to continue in our way. We won't change our philosophy, but of course when you play against a stronger team like we do tomorrow, you have to adapt a little bit to their style of play.
Weekend results
Bayern 2-1 Borussia Dortmund (Lewandowski 72, Robben 85pen; Reus 31)
SSC Napoli 2-0 Roma (Higuaín 3, Callejón 85)
Form guide (all competitions)
Bayern: WWDWWW
Roma: LWDLWL
Match facts
• How many wins have Roma recorded in 11 trips to Germany? Find out in our extensive match background.