Bayern Munich stars Franck Ribéry and Mario Götze are among those closing in on a return to first-team action, but it remains to be seen if Pep Guardiola includes the duo in his match-day squad against Augsburg on Sunday.
Bayern Munich travel to Augsburg to take on Markus Weinzierl’s men on Sunday, but manager Pep Guardiola will be without defensive midfielder Xabi Alonso, who is suspended for one Bundesliga game after being sent off in the goalless draw against Bayer Leverkusen last weekend.
Augsburg have been a bogey team for Guardiola, with the Bavarian side being the only team along with Borussia Mönchengladbach to beat the Spaniard’s Bayern Munich side on more than one occasion. The former Barcelona manager expects another tough game for his side, particularly after their midweek DFB Pokal exertions against Bochum.
The 45-year-old is quoted by the Bayern Munich website as saying: “I’ll prepare my players as well as possible. The quality of the players and the coach, the pitch, the atmosphere [are Augsburg’s strengths].”
While the squad had a day off on Friday to prepare for Sunday’s derby, Mario Götze, Franck Ribéry and Mehdi Benatia were reportedly at the training ground, where they were joined by their manager. The two attackers have resumed the usual training program along with defender Serdar Tasci, and a decision on whether to include them in the matchday squad for Augsburg game will be made after the final training session ahead of the game on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Jerome Boateng (groin) and Javi Martínez (knee) are both still in the infirmary, and are not expected to be available in the near future.
