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Bayern and Leverkusen in CL

Mark HallamOctober 2, 2013

Bayern Munich face perhaps their toughest test since Pep Guardiola took the helm this season, away to Manchester City. Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern's weekend Bundesliga opponents, host Real Sociedad in the Champions League.

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Fußball Bundesliga 9. Spieltag: FC Bayern München - Bayer 04 Leverkusen am 28.10.2012 in der Allianz Arena in München (Bayern). Thomas Müller (l, oben) von Bayern, Mario Mandzukic (l, Mitte) von Bayern, Philipp Wollscheid von Leverkusen und Daniel Carvajal (r) von Leverkusen kämpfen um den Ball. Leverkusen gewinnt das Spiel mit 2:1. Foto: Tobias Hase/dpa (Achtung Hinweis zur Bildnutzung! Die DFL erlaubt die Weiterverwertung von maximal 15 Fotos (keine Sequenzbilder und keine videoähnlichen Fotostrecken) während des Spiels (einschließlich Halbzeit) aus dem Stadion und/oder vom Spiel im Internet und in Online-Medien. Uneingeschränkt gestattet ist die Weiterleitung digitalisierter Aufnahmen bereits während des Spiels ausschließlich zur internen redaktionellen Bearbeitung (z. B. via Bilddatenbanken).) +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Bayern Munich elected to play German international Thomas Müller, usually more of a multi-purpose attacking midfielder, as a nominal striker in Manchester on Wednesday. Besides this, coach Pep Guardiola picked his preferred starting 11 so far this season for the game against big-spenders Man City. Leading the City line is striker Edin Dzeko, who broke Bayern hearts during his stay in Germany by firing Wolfsburg to the 2009 Bundesliga title.

Bayer Leverkusen, meanwhile, entertain Real Sociedad in a must-win match after their away defeat to Manchester United on the opening day of Champions League group stage action. Coach Sami Hyypia, who faces Guardiola's Bayern on Saturday in the Bundesliga, picked his top team to face the Spanish side.

Currently second and third in the Bundesliga table, the meeting between Bayern and Leverkusen at the weekend promises to be the biggest game of Germany's domestic season. Prior to meeting head-to-head, both German sides will hope for three Champions League points.

Here are the starting lineups for the German outfits:

Bayern Munich: Manuel Neuer - Rafinha, Jerome Boateng, Dante, David Alaba - Philipp Lahm (c.), Toni Kroos, Bastian Schweinsteiger - Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery - Thomas Müller

Bayer Leverkusen: Bernd Leno - Roberto Hilbert, Philipp Wollscheid, Ömer Toprak, Sebastian Boenisch - Stefan Reinartz, Lars Bender, Simon Rolfes (c.) - Sidney Sam, Heung-Min Son - Stefan Kiessling

Follow @dw_sports on Twitter for live coverage of both matches.