Bayern Munich may want to field as strong a team as possible against Manchester City in order to knock their potentially-dangerous opponents out at the first hurdle, but that team won't be quite as strong as Jupp Heynckes would like - both Toni Kroos and Arjen Robben have been sent back to Germany after catching the flu, leaving the Bundesliga leaders significantly weakened ahead of Wednesday's UEFA Champions League clash.

That won't both Bayern too much, since they're already assured of a first-place finish with 13 points from their opening five games, but it will give Roberto Mancini and City some hope that a result against the Bundesliga side is far from impossible. The Bavarians are also missing dynamic midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, and on paper City should be favourites to get the win at home. That might all be for naught depending on what Napoli do at Villarreal, but this is much better news for City than having to face some of Germany's top talents.