Wednesday's Champions League Preview: Bayern Munich Travel To Cluj

Bayern Munich travel to Romania to take on CFR Cluj, in the reverse fixture of a match they were lucky to escape with three points from back in Bavaria. Own-goals were key back in Germany, but Bayern Munich will not want to count on lightning to strike twice for them tomorrow night. Compose and determination will be key, because Cluj can unsettle even the best of them in the cauldron that is the Constantin Radulescu.

Die Roten have lost Ivica Olic for six months after a knee injury. Also ruled out of the Cluj trip is Holger Badstuber, who went down with a pelvis injury during the warm-up to Bayern Munich’s weekend match against Freiburg. Here’s the starting XI:

Butt – Lahm, Demichelis, van Buyten, Pranjic – Ottl, Tymoschuk – Altintop, Schweinsteiger, Kroos – Gomez

Cluj’s main threat will come through striker Lnacina Traore, whose physicality and aerial ability will be a big test for Daniel van Buyten and Martin Demichelis. Cluj’s home support will likely create a hot atmosphere, and Bayern Munich will have too keep composed in front of such a hostile home crowd. Despite that, I think Bayern will take this. If they do, they’ll break the record for their best European start of all time, and seal qualification into the next round.