Man City on brink ahead of Bayern test

Manchester City are teetering on the brink of a thirdChampionsLeaguegroup-phase elimination in four seasons ahead of Bayern Munich’s visit to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.City’s dismal 2-1 loss at home to CSKA Moscow in their previous outing left them bottom of GroupE with only two points and they will be knocked out if they fail to beat Bayern and there is a winner in the Russianchampions‘ home game with Roma.Manuel Pellegrini’s side can draw some solace from the fact that Bayern, who shaded September’s reverse fixture 1-0 thanks to a last-minute goal by former City player Jerome Boateng, are already guaranteed to qualify as group winners.City will also take inspiration from their 3-2 win away to Bayern in the group phase of last season’s competition, although the circumstances then were quite different, with the visitors having already secured a place in the last16.City’s hand has been weakened by suspensions to Yaya Toure and Fernandinho, both of whom were sent off — the former for a petulant shove —during the defeat by CSKA Moscow on November5.And although City came from behind to beat Swansea City 2-1 in the PremierLeagueon Saturday, midfielder Samir Nasri knows that Pep Guardiola’s ruthless Bayern side will be a very different proposition.“We are really lucky to still be in with a chance of qualifying because, with two points and two games left, normally you are out,” said the formerFrance international.“Now is our chance. We have to take it and play with nothing to lose. We can take a lot (from beating Swansea), but a game against Bayern Munich will not be the same as a game against Swansea.“No disrespect to Swansea, who are a great team, but Bayern Munich have world-class players in every position.”Bayern have gone 18 games without defeat sincelosing to Borussia Dortmund in the German Super Cup on August 13, winning all four of their games to date in theChampionsLeague.The 2013 Europeanchampionsextended their lead at the Bundesliga summit to seven points bycrushing Hoffenheim 4-0 at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.Bastian Schweinsteiger made his first competitive appearance since starring for Germany in the World Cup final, coming on as a late substitute, and Guardiola has hinted that he could feature again at City.“It’s good news for him and for us. I have seen how important Bastian is for the club and the fans,” said Guardiola, who is bidding to win his third Champions League title as a coach after two previous successes with Barcelona.“With Philipp (Lahm), David (Alaba), (Javi) Martinez and Thiago (Alcantara) out, we now have a super midfielder back, but he has only trained for a week with us.