BAYERNS GROUP E OPPONENTS PROFILED FC Bayern will encounter some familiar faces in the Champions League group stage this season. fcbayern.de profiles each of the the teams three opponents ahead of the new campaign: Manchester City, CSKA Moscow and AS Roma. Man City - new start in EuropeIn the English champions, Germanys record champions will meet familiar opponents, as it is the third time in the last four seasons that FCB take on the Citizens. The team from Manchester came out on top in a hotly-contested title race with Liverpool in the Premier League last year. Last seasons matches between Bayern and Man City ended with a win for each side.Manuel Pellegrini has remained in charge at Manchester City, and the Chilean will yet again boast a star-studded squad in Europe. The already-established stars like Yaya Touré, David Silva, Sergio Agüero, Edin Dzeko or Martin Demichelis were joined this summer by Fernando and Eliaquim Malanga (both from FC Porto), Bacaray Sagna (Arsenal) and Frank Lampard (Chelsea), who is on loan from New York City FC until December.With these additions, Manchester City hope to finally land the big prize in Europe. Last season, the English champions bowed out in the Round of 16 against Barcelona. But City already started their domestic campaign strongly with two wins, five goals scored and only one conceded. CSKA Moscow - the Russian championsLast season, FC Bayern met CSKA Moscow for the very first time. Now they meet again. 3-0 in Munich and 3-1 in Moscow in Bayerns favor were the scorelines last season with the former army club finishing last in the group.The reigning Russian champions have stumbled a bit in their domestic campaign this season. After three straight wins to start the league they fell to defeat twice, and now find themselves seventh in the standings. Leonid Sluzki still remains and has been in charge since 2009. Among some of the more well-known players on the team are captain and goalkeeper Igor Akinfejew, Swedish national player Rasmus Elm, former Cologne player Zoran Tosic who pulls the strings in the middle of the park, and goalscorer Seydou Doumbia.With 12 league and cup titles, CSKA are one of the most succesful clubs in Russia. In 2005 the club won the UEFA Cup. Because their home stadium is being rebuilt for the 2018 World Cup, FC Bayern will play CSKA in an alternative venue in the suburb of Khimki just like last year, a stadium with a capacity of 18,500. AS Roma - the eternal TottiThere will also be a reunion with AS Roma, albeit the last matches with the current Italian runners-up go back a little farther. The last time Bayern met Roma was back in the group stage of the 2010/11 season. Bayern came out on top in the first game 2-0 before Roma decided the return match in their favor, winning 3-2. Prior to that, there was only one other tie. That came in the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners Cup in the 1984/85 season with Bayern winning both legs.After a couple of down years, the capital club returned to the top last season under French coach Rudi Garcia. They had a record start to the campaign, winning ten matches in a row. At the end of the season, they set a new club record of 85 points in the league, but it was only enough to finish second to eventual champions Juventus Turin (102 points). This is their first Champions League campaign since the 2010/11 season.The undisputed star of the team is and remains captain Franceso Totti who has been playing for Gli Giallorossi since his youth days. The 37-year-old has over 600 games under his belt with the club and scored over 250 goals in the process. In players like Ashley Cole, Maicon, Daniele de Rossi and Seydou Keita, Totti is surrounded by numerous well-known quality players. No longer at the club, though, is Bayerns new signing, Mehdi Benatia, who can now look forward to a quick reunion with his former teammates.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 06:43:09 +0000