Bayern will play Italian runners-up AS Roma, and Swiss and Romanian champions FC Basel and CFR Cluj in the Champions League group stage this season. Roma and superstar Francesco Totti present the most obvious threat on paper, but FCB would do well not to underestimate Basel and Cluj, as both are certain to fight all the way in their prestige meetings with Germany’s biggest club. We examine the Group E rivals.
Bayern’s 2010-2011 group stage opponents
AS Roma:
For the latest on AS Roma, Bayern could do worse than consult Luca Toni. The former FCB striker spent the second half of last term out on loan to the club from the Italian capital. Paulo Sergio also played for Roma before moving to Munich. For many years, star billing at the club has belonged to local boy Francesco Totti, who is joined in attack this term by summer capture Adriano. However, the newly-acquired Brazilian will miss the opening match in Munich with a stubborn hamstring injury.
Roma have won the Italian Scudetto three times, most recently in 2001, with the runners-up spot on a total of six occasions. Silverware last came to the capital in 2007 and 2008 in back-to-back Italian cup wins. Roma appeared in the Champions League every year between 2007 and 2009, reaching the quarter-finals on one occasion, but spent last season in the Europa League. The Roman Tifosi, capable of transforming the 72,000-capacity Olympic stadium into a seething cauldron on a good night, have yet to see their club collect European honours.
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