Bayern travel to Bochum without Ribéry, Götze, and Tasci

Bayern Munich will be without Franck Ribéry, Mario Götze, and Serdar Tasci for the trip to Bochum this afternoon. Ribéry suffered a muscle tear during his return to first-team action against Dinamo Zagreb in December and Götze has been out since October with an adductor injury. Although the two recently returned to first-team training, they will not be risked in light of their recent injury problems.

Despite not being able to feature against Bochum, Götze feels that he will be ready soon. "The confidence grows from workout to workout," reported the mercurial midfielder. "It is important that I get back into my rhythm and to 100 percent, and then I will feel ready for the game."

Tasci's omission from the squad is a result of  his lack of match fitness as a result of not having played competitively since early December. Although he recently suffered concussion in training, Guardiola ruled out any chance that it remained an issue. "His problem is only his conditioning."

Bayern fans can only hope that the three are able to remain healthy and relieve the burdens that have been forced upon the squad by injury this season.