With many matches against many different types of clubs, some performances can be a quandary of quality in an acceptable way. Multiple questionable showings will raise red flags.
FC Bayern München showed up to the Borussia Dortmund match in a big way, ending the match with a bang with three goals in the second half. Their performance against PFC CSKA Moskva in the snow globe that was Khimki arena showed even more resolve.
How a 2-0 performance against the last-place Bundesliga side can look uninvolved, or a 1-0 victory in Plzen in the Champions League can look passive, shows that at times FC Bayern play down to some of its lesser opponents.
All that said, that will not happen in the DFB Pokal.
Only two DFB Pokal matches in the last season and a half have been one-goal victories, the Borussia Dortmund 1-0 victory in Allianz Arena and the 3-2 victory in the final against VfB Stuttgart.
Now die Roten return to the same Round 3 venue as a year ago, taking on the Fuggerstädter in Augsburg. With the next step towards Berlin ahead of them, FC Bayern should show up for the match.
The Match (8th meeting)
Location: SGL Arena, Augsburg, Germany
Referees
Head: Felix Zwayer
FC Bayern: 9 W, 1 D, 0 L – 11 YC, 1 RC
Assistants: Florian Steuer, Marcel Pelgrim
Fourth Official: Jochen Drees
Time converter at worldtimebuddy.com
Television and Streaming
USA: ESPN 3, Univision Deportes
Canada: Sportsnet Central Online
Germany: Sky Sports 2 | HD, Sky Go
Other Countries
The Fixture
Form
FC Bayern: WWWWW
FC Augsburg: DWLWL
Records
Bundesliga: 5 W, 0 D, 0 L
DFB Pokal: 2 W, 0 D, 0 L
Biggest Win: 6-0 (DFB Pokal: October 7, 1983, Augsburg, Germany)
The Squad
With another ticket to the quarterfinals available after a trip to Augsburg, FC Bayern does not have the same side they did a year ago. Two of the players are at different clubs (Mario Gomez, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk), and four others are dealing with injuries (Philipp Lahm, Franck Ribery, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Xherdan Shaqiri).
Ribéry is not available with his fractured ribs, according to kicker, although the club has yet to rule out Shaqiri, who would be another candidate for injury reintegration.
Without Ribéry, there might be a little mixing and matching in the attack. Mario Mandzukic should start after his 33 minute shift at the weekend, meaning one of Mario Götze, Arjen Robben, Thomas Müller, Thiago Alcantara, or Toni Kroos will have to sit. Both Kroos and Müller have played in all 23 matches in all competitions – Kroos has started 20 matches, Müller has started 19 – so one could be a candidate to at least start on the bench.
With Daniel van Buyten getting the midweek game, Jérôme Boateng is due to get a start, either next to Dante or van Buyten. With no indicator of what Diego Contento's injury was, it is unlikely he'll get a look-in, meaning Rafinha and David Alaba will likely to start on the wings.
Unless Guardiola will start a reserve for the first time in the treble defense, the starting XI should only have a few iterations.
Projected Lineup (4-1-4-1)
Mandžukić
Müller – Kroos – Thiago – Robben
Martínez
Alaba – Dante – Boateng – Rafinha
Bench: Starke, Diego Contento, van Buyten, Kirchhoff, Højbjerg, Green, Götze
The Opponent
FC Augsburg's DFB Pokal path is more a fortunate tale than a formidable one. The clubs two draws were third division Rasen Ballsport Leipzig and SC Preussen 06 Münster. It beat it's third tier opponents by a combined score of 5-0.
Tobias Werner scored as many goals, two, against RB Leipzig as he has in the Bundesliga thus far, giving a clue to the difference in the opponents Augsburg has faced in the two competitions.
The side taking the field in SGL Arena likely will be similar to the one that traveled to Munich nearly a month ago. Dominick Reinhardt has yet to make a full return from his thumb injury, although he did play with FC Augsburg II at the weekend.
Halil Altintop is in pretty good form, his two goal performance landing him on the kicker's matchday 13 team of the week. André Hahn scored a double-pack himself at the beginning of November against 1. FSV Mainz 05, and that is the entire scoring for Augsburg in the month of November.
Sascha Mölders has not started in a month, with 19-year-old Arkadiusz Milik getting more looks from manager Markus Weinzierl. Hahn sat at the weekend, likely saved for the Bavarian rematch in Augsburg.
Marwin Hitz is the goalkeeper in the best form with two saves and a clean sheet against Hertha Berlin, but Weinzierl has used three different goalkeepers, so it is anybody's guess who will start between the pipes.
Projected Lineup (4-1-4-1)
Milik
Werner – Altintop – Vogt – Hahn
Baier
Ostrzolek – Klavan – Callsen-Bracker – Verhaegh
Hitz
Bench: Manninger, de Jong, Hong, Philp, Holzhauser, Moravek, Mölders
The Outcome
FC Augsburg has recorded 13 of a possible 21 points at home so far in the Bundesliga. After losing 4-0 to Dortmund at home to open the season, they have scored two goals in five of six home matches. That streak will end with FC Bayern's visit, and the Rekordmeister will inch that much closer to a return to Berlin.
Projected Score: FC Augsburg 0-2 FC Bayern Munchen