Roma and Sporting looking for German revenge

"They don't want to experience a loss like that again," said Pep Guardiola on Tuesday's press conference, ahead of his team's Champions League match against AS Roma. His comment was in reference to Bayern's 7-1 drubbing of Roma the last time his side took to the field in the Champions League. It was a result that shocked many, but a similar tremor is not expected this week.

Guardiola was coy on key man Arjen Robben's fitness - "If Robben can play for us tomorrow it would be a major advantage for us" - but was clear about one area his side must improve on: "We are a catastrophe [at scoring from corners]. We definitely have to get better at this."

A win would see Bayern qualify for the next round of Europe's most prestigious club competition, and so Robben is likely to play some part. Franck Ribery may also start as the Frenchman seeks his permanent return to the starting XI. As Guardiola said, "he made the difference against Dortmund."

Roma have hit a poor run of form since that Bayern drubbing - drawing to Sampdoria and losing to Napoli in the Serie A - and they have defensive concerns coming into the game in Munich. Maicon hasn't travelled and will be replaced by Vasilis Torosidis, who himself is recovering from an injury.

Schalke without Draxler

A recently-diagnosed tendon injury in his right thigh will mean that Julian Draxler will be missing from Schalke's ranks until 2015. His absence leaves Roberto Di Matteo with fewer attacking options when his side take on Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday. But, Kevin Prince Boateng has recovered from his injury and is likely to be in the squad in Portugal.

Schalke have managed three wins out of four since Di Matteo's arrival, but that doesn't necessarily tell the whole story. The majority of those games have only been won by a narrow margin and there are concerns that a better side will expose Schalke. Sporting nearly managed it last time the teams met, but were denied by a poor refereeing decision that gave Schalke a last-minute penalty winner.

Jan Kirchhoff, on loan from Bayern Munich, has also recovered from his injury and looks closer and closer to a starting berth. "We are going to Lisbon to win and all but clinch a slot in the knockout round," said Kirchhoff.

Sporting haven't won any of their three Champions League games this season, and are under pressure to deliver after the club president Bruno de Carvalho claimed it was "time for them to show they are worthy of this club."

Elsewhere, Bayern's Group E challengers Manchester City are looking to build on their domestic derby win last weekend by beating CSKA Moscow at home. Ajax host Barcelona and PSG will be confident of three points against APOEL in Group F's two fixtures. Meanwhile, Chelsea travel to Slovenia to play Maribor in Group G's other clash. In Group H, Bilbao play Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk host BATE.

DW will cover the two Wednesday Champions League games with German involvement live at www.dw.de/sports. Coverage will begin at 19:15 UTC.