Bundesliga Preview: Augsburg v Bayern Munich

Dante has warned Augsburg there is no chance Bayern Munich they will take their eye off the ball in Saturday’s clash at SGL arena.

The Bavarian giants have already wrapped up the Bundesliga title and their priority now is undoubtedly the second leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United.

Bayern were held to a 1-1 draw by the Premier League side at Old Trafford on Tuesday and are strongly fancied to progress to the last four of the competition they won last season.

Coach Pep Guardiola is expected to make changes for this weekend’s Bavarian derby with one eye on the return fixture against David Moyes’ side on Wednesday.

But defender Dante, who was suspended for the draw with United, stressed that the German and European champions will be going all out for three points against Markus Weinzierl’s men.

“The best way of preparing for the return leg against Manchester United is to put on a good display at Augsburg,” he told Bayern’s official website.

“Although we’re already champions we don’t want to give anything away by taking our foot off the gas. At the end of the day it’s a derby. We need to keep focused and win it for our fans.”

Bayern broke Hamburg’s record for the longest unbeaten run in Bundesliga history when they beat Augsburg 3-0 back in November and they have still not lost in the league since then, meaning their streak now stands at 53 matches.

Guardiola’s side have also beaten Augsburg 2-0 away in the DFB-Pokal in each of the last two seasons and Brazil international Dante has seen enough of this weekend’s opponents to expect a stern test.

“I remember the cup ties at their place. They were always tricky,” he added.

Bayern will be without left-back Diego Contento after he sustained ankle ligament in training ahead of the first leg against United.

Striker Mario Mandzukic and midfielder Mario Gotze will be hoping to earn recalls after starting on the bench at Old Trafford.

Augsburg’s push for a place in Europe has hit the buffers in recent weeks as they are now without a win in four league games.

They were beaten 3-0 at Mainz last Saturday and have picked up just one point from a possible 12, a poor run that has left them in eighth place.

Midfielders Tobias Werner and Andre Hahn miss out due to suspension.