The ever-consistent Bayern Munich are not as consistent coming into their third Champions League 2016-17 game, which is against Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday in Germany. Carlo Ancelotti's side have not recorded a win in any of their previous three fixtures in all competition and the morale might be expected to be a bit low for the Bundesliga giants.
If that wasn't a worry, star winger Franck Ribery, is meanwhile ruled out of the PSV game owing to a muscle injury, making things a bit more complicated.
Nevertheless, with the likes Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller available to play, much worry isn't expected. "We are under a bit of pressure at the moment, we want to finish first [from Group D in the Champions League] so we need to beat PSV," mentioned defender Mats Hummels ahead of the game.
"It's at home, we know we are favourites, but we're not so happy with our performances recently and we know tomorrow won't be easy."
The positive thing is Bayern have 13 consecutive victories at home in the UEFA Champions League. They also hold the upper hand against PSV. Both sides met each other on six occasions in the past. While the German side have four wins, the Dutch side have one. The other game turned out to be a draw.
PSV, meanwhile, have one draw and a loss from their two previous games in the Champions League group stages, giving them a major worry. Against Bayern, they look the underdogs, but pretty sure Phillip Cocu's side won't back down from a fight. "We look forward to playing against such big opponents. We are focused and will go into the game with confidence," said Cocu. "We definitely have the chance of talking a positive result back to Holland."
Expected starting XI
Bayern Munich: Neuer; Lahm, Boateng, Hummels, Alaba; Thiago, Kimmich, Vidal; Robben, Lewandowski, Müller.
PSV: Zoet; Brenet, Schwaab, Isimat-Mirin, Moreno, Willems; Guardado, Pröpper, S De Jong; Narsingh, L De Jong.
Schedule
Bayern Munich vs PSV is scheduled to kick off at 12:15 a.m. IST [Thursday] (7:45 p.m. BST, 2:45 p.m. EST) on October 19.
Where to watch live
India: TV: Ten 1. Live streaming: ten sports live.
UK: TV: BT Sport. Live streaming: BT Sport live.
USA: TV: Fox Sports. Live streaming: Fox Sports Go.
Germany: TV: Sky Sport 1 HD, Sky Sport 4/HD. Live streaming: Sky Go Deutschland.
Netherlands: TV: Veronica TV.
