At 2:45 p.m. E.T. the class of Group D in the UEFA Champions League, Bayern Munich, will travel to face the group's lowliest side this year Viktoria Plzen in a match that can be live streamed here.
Plzen has a goal differential of -9, and yet Bayern coach Pep Guardiola is wary of the threat they pose. "I'm sure it's going to be harder for us than it was in Munich," Guardiola said at a press conference on Monday. "When you lose a game as a player, then you definitely want to do better in the return leg.
"We want to qualify tomorrow, but we also want to win the group, which means we want to win in Moscow (against CSKA) and against (Manchester) City too."
Bayern's posted an 11-1 goals vs. goals against ratio in its first three Champions League games this year, and have an opportunity to match Barcelona's nine-match winning streak in 2002-2003. Guardiola acknowledged the degree of difficulty in matching that feat, but isn't focused on re-writing record books.
"Records are good for the club and these clubs, the best in the world, try to win them, but the record we want is the one attached to winning the title next May," he said. Bayern looks poised to have a great chance at becoming the first team in the modern Champions League era to repeat.
"We just want to qualify for the next stage as soon as we can. We've got many, many games coming up in the next few weeks so it would be easier if we could go into the next Champions League games having already qualified," Mario Gotze said. Gotze played for Borussia Dortmund last season, falling to Bayern in the Final.
He too knows the importance of not taking opponents lightly. "Trivialities can make the difference. Whether you play for Dortmund or for Bayern, it's the same."
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