Jupp Heynckes will have Tuesday’s Champions League round of 16 match away to Arsenal in mind when he picks his team to face Wolfsburg on Friday, especially with the Bundesliga seemingly in his control with 13 rounds to play.
Switzerland attacker Xherdan Shaqiri is still struggling to overcome an ankle injury suffered in late January and will miss yet another match, although right-back Rafinha is expected to be part of the matchday squad after overcoming an ankle problem of his own.
Defender Holger Badstuber, who suffered a serious knee injury in December’s match against Dortmund, is out for the remainder of the season.
Dieter Hecking, meanwhile, is still without midfielder Vaclav Pilar, who was injured while on duty with the Czech Republic in August and whose knee surgery ruled him out for the rest of the campaign. Striker Patrick Helmes is also still missing after his knee injury in a pre-season friendly against Manchester City and is not expected back until next month at the earliest.
- Wolfsburg last picked up a point against Bayern more than two years ago, when they played the Bavarian giants to a 1-1 draw at home on January 15, 2011.
- Bayern have kept four successive clean sheets heading into Friday’s match, and during that stretch have outscored their opponents 11-0.
- Ivica Olic has scored only two Bundesliga goals for Wolfsburg since moving from Bayern in the summer. Bas Dost leads the side with eight.
- Mario Mandzukic (right) played two seasons at Wolfsburg before moving to Bayern last summer. He is now the leading goals-scorer at his new club with 14 Bundesliga goals – two more than he scored all of last season for Wolfsburg.
- Since winning the Bundesliga title in 2009, Wolfsburg have finished no higher than eighth in the table and came close to being relegated in 2011.