Star-studded Bayern Munich start their title defence with a home game against Borussia M’gladbach, a team that are still reeling from the DFB Pokal defeat to minnows Darmstadt.

Pep Guardiola had been announced as the next Bavarians coach long before Jupp Heynckess led the German giants to a historic treble, but the amazing success certainly created an extra pressure on the former Barcelona boss.

While getting rid of Tymoshchuk, Petersen, Gomez and Can, the Bavarians added the likes of Mario Gotze, Thiago Alcantara and Jan Kirchhoff to their ranks, with a view of remaining the dominant force in both Germany and Europe.

However, in spite of recording some resounding victories in pre-season, the Bavarians crumbled in their first competitive game, losing the German Super Cup match to arch rivals Borussia Dortmund.

The team have since defeated Sao Paulo and Manchester City in final warm-up games before hammering Schwarz-Weiss Rehden 5-0 in the DFB Pokal.

Seeing as how the Bavarians are very motivated to make amends for the costly defeat to Dortmund, they can be backed at 1.95 (19/20) at Ladbrokes to win the game by three goals or more.

Mario Gotze has finally resumed full training, but he won’t be in contention for starting places, just like Holger Badstuber, who remains sidelined through injury.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Neuer – Lahm, Boateng, Dante, Alaba – Schweinsteiger, Martinez – Robben, Muller, Ribery – Mandzukic.

After impressing to achieve a fourth-place finish in Bundesliga the previous year, Borussia ended the league campaign in 8th place last term, mere four points behind European places.

The team showed some promise in Europa League as well, crashing out in knockout stages, but they clearly face an uphill task this term.

Die Fohlen have seen the likes of Hanke, De Camargo, Ring and Cigerci leave the club among others, while they could only sign Max Kruse and Christoph Kramer.

Lucian Favre’s men, nonetheless, recorded some decent results in pre-season, defeating Nurnberg, Dortmund and Celtic while losing 5-1 to Bayern, but they were utterly disappointing in the first competitive match, losing the DFB Pokal tie to Darmstadt after penalties.

The boss now needs to rally his troops ahead of the trip to Alianz Arena, although it is important to note die Fohlen did not lose on their last two visits to Munich, recording 1-0 victory and 1-1 draw.

First choice keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has returned into action, while Juan Arango and Amin Younes are back in contention.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Ter Stegen – Korb, Stranzl, Dominguez, Daems – Herrmann, Nordtveit, Xhaka, Arango – Kruse, De Jong.

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