Bayern juggernaut rolls into Plzen

UEFA Champions League holders FC Bayern München travel to the Czech Republic looking to inflict another defeat on FC Viktoria Plzeň and maintain their 100% winning start in Group D.

• Bayern's 5-0 defeat of Plzeň last time out kept them three points clear at the top of the section and they will book their progress to the last 16 if they win and Manchester City FC avoid defeat against PFC CSKA Moskva in the group's other game.

• Plzeň are looking to restore some pride after three straight losses, although Pavel Vrba's men would be eliminated if they fail to match or better City's result against CSKA.

Past meetings
• Bayern earned a 7-1 aggregate victory when the teams met in the 1971/72 European Cup Winners' Cup first round. Wolfgang Sühnholz hit the only goal of the first leg in Plzen and Bayern doubled their aggregate lead in the first minute of the return through Gerd Müller. Although Ivan Bican equalised, Bayern ran out 6-1 winners with Franz Krauthausen, Wilhelm Hoffmann (2), Franz Roth and Müller again scoring. Bayern's current club president, Uli Hoeness, featured in both games.

Match background
• Although Plzeň lost heavily at home to Manchester City on matchday one, they had won ten of their preceding 11 home fixtures in UEFA competition – including three in a row in this season's UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds.

• Reigning champions Bayern, however, are enjoying their best run of form on the road in Europe since posting six successive away wins in their triumphant 1995/96 UEFA Cup campaign. Including last season, they have now won four in a row in the UEFA Champions League – and five of their last six.

• Bayern's most recent visit to the Czech Republic brought a 1-0 victory over AC Sparta Praha in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League first group stage, courtesy of a Jiří Novotný own goal.

• Bayern have a strong away record against Czech clubs, which reads W4 D0 L1. That solitary defeat was a 2-1 loss at FC Baník Ostrava in the 1976/77 European Champion Clubs' Cup second round but even then they won the return leg 5-0.

• Plzeň's only other meeting with Bundesliga opposition came in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League round of 32 against FC Schalke 04. After Vladimír Darida scored in a 1-1 home draw, the return in Germany went to extra time after František Rajtoral equalised two minutes from the end to make it 1-1. However, Schalke eventually ran out 3-1 winners thanks to a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar hat-trick.

Team ties
• Plzeň faced Josep Guardiola's FC Barcelona in their debut group stage campaign in 2011/12, meeting on matchdays three and four, and losing 2-0 away and 4-0 at home.

• As a player, Guardiola faced AC Sparta Praha with Barcelona in the group stage of the 1991/92 European Cup, winning 3-2 at home and losing 1-0 away. When he faced Sparta with Barcelona again – in the second group stage in 1999/2000 – he scored his only UEFA Champions League goal in a 5-0 home victory and also featured in a 2-1 success in Prague.

• With Spain in 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Guardiola played in a goalless away draw with the Czech Republic and a 1-0 home victory.

• As assistant manager of Slovakia, Vrba saw his team lose 2-1 against Germany in a UEFA EURO 2008 qualifier in Hamburg, with Philipp Lahm in the opposition lineup.

• Milan Petržela made 12 Bundesliga appearances for FC Augsburg in 2012/13, appearing as a late substitute in a 2-0 home loss to Bayern last December.

• Roman Hubník was at Hertha BSC Berlin from 2010 to 2013 and suffered two heavy defeats against Bayern in 2011/12, losing 4-0 away and 6-0 at home.

• Javi Martínez helped Spain win 2-0 at a Czech Republic side including Hubník and Daniel Kolář in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying.

• Hubník scored for the Czech Republic in a 3-1 friendly defeat of Daniel Van Buyten's Belgium in 2009.

• Marek Bakoš was in the Slovakia side beaten 2-0 away by Arjen Robben's Netherlands in a May 2012 friendly.

• Radim Řezník and Tomáš Hořava faced Mario Götze in the Czech Republic's 1-1 home draw with Germany in a 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier.

• Mario Mandžukić's GNK Dinamo Zagreb team overcame Matúš Kozáčik’s Sparta Praha on away goals in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup first round.

• Marián Čišovský played for FC Timişoara in their 2-0 aggregate loss to VfB Stuttgart in the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League play-offs.

• Pavel Horváth has won just once in seven visits to Germany over the last 15 years – 2-1 at 1. FC Kaiserslautern with FK Teplice in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup first round.

• Horváth first faced Bundesliga opposition in March 1998, with SK Slavia Praha in a 2-0 defeat against Stuttgart in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals. He was in the Czech Republic side beaten 3-2 in Germany in a June 2000 friendly, the year of his only previous UEFA Champions League trip to Germany – Sporting Clube de Portugal's 3-2 loss at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the first group stage.