Hannover v Bayern Munich: Champions prepared for battle

Bayern Munich midfielder Sebastian Rode claims the Bundesliga champions are taking nothing for granted ahead of Saturday’s visit to Hannover.

Hannover have dropped to 11th in the table and are without a competitive win in 2015.

So for a Bayern side who have won their last four Bundesliga matches, scoring 20 goals in the process, it looks an easy task on paper.

Rode does not believe that will be the case, though, and said meticulous Bayern boss Pep Guardiola will have them fully prepared for the threat of the hosts.

“It’s going to be tough,” Rode told Hannover’s official website.

“They are in a bad run of form at the moment but have lots of quality in their ranks. We need to concentrate throughout the game and give it our all.

“Pep makes sure we’re prepared properly for every game. He analyses everything and then we work on it in training.

“His intensity and dedication has rubbed off on me [this season].”

Bayern lead the league by eight points but have not been able to shrug off the challenge of free-scoring Wolfsburg.

And while a third successive Bundesliga title looks a formality, their ongoing involvement in cup competitions means they have a busy schedule.

The Bavarian giants may look to rest players on Saturday with a crucial last-16 UEFA Champions League home tie to come against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. The first leg was a goalless draw last month.

Bayern moved into the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday, beating second-tier Eintracht Braunschweig 2-0.

David Alaba and Mario Gotze scored for Bayern but they were not as dominant as expected against an organised Braunschweig outfit.

Hannover will enter the game fresher after not playing in midweek.

They drew 1-1 at home to struggling Stuttgart last time out – the third time in February that a match of theirs ended with that scoreline.

Bayern, set to be without Philipp Lahm (ankle), Thiago Alcantara (knee) and Mehdi Benatia (thigh), won the reverse fixture 4-0 in October.