Jürgen Klinsmann has no particularly fond memories of his last visit to Fiorentina's Stadio Artemio Franchi.
As coach of Germany he watched his charges bomb 4-1 there on March 1st 2006, in what was viewed at the time as a key warm-up match for the World Cup finals.
The subsequent criticism of his leadership style, and the fact that he was still living in California at the time, was eventually allayed for the most part by Germany's march to third place in the tournament they hosted that summer.
Rummenigge keeps it low-key
Critical voices were coming to the fore again following FC Bayern's patchy start to the season, after Klinsmann took over there in the summer.
Now though, the reigning champions are up to third in the Bundesliga having won four games in a row. They are also top of Group F in the Champions League, on seven points from three games.
Ahead of the tricky visit to Florence, CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says, “A point wouldn't be bad at all. It would be a significant step in the direction of the last 16.” Midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger however is looking to keep the current roll going: “We could live with a point, but we'd like to win it.”
“Team growing together”
Klinsmann's 'FC Bayern project' appears to be bearing fruit. “The team are growing together. The automatisms are taking root”, the coach said in the wake of the 3-1 win against Arminia Bielefeld at the weekend.
The strength of the squad is also coming to the fore. Klinsmann started with just Miroslav Klose up front against Bielefeld. The introduction of Lukas Podolski as a second striker enlivened Bayern's play considerably in the second half.
The coach is keeping his cards close to his chest as to the tactics he will deploy against Fiorentina on Wednesday. One thing for certain, however, is that Luca Toni, still suffering with bruised ribs, will miss out on the return to his old stomping ground.
Victory for Bayern, in conjunction with the right result in the other group match between Olympique Lyon and Steaua Bucharest, could even ensure them a fast-stream progression to the knockout phase of the tournament.
Whether or not that proves to be the case on the night, a revitalised FC Bayern are unlikely to leave Klinsmann contemplating the same kind of beating handed out to the last team he took to the Tuscan city.
Line-ups as expected:
Fiorentina: Frey - Zauri, Gamberini, Dainelli, Pasqual - Kuzmanovic, Melo, Montolivo - Santana, Gilardino, Mutu
FC Bayern: Rensing - Oddo, Lucio, Demichelis, Ze Roberto - van Bommel, Ottl - Schweinsteiger, Borowski, Ribery - Klose
Referee: Alberto Undiano (Spain)
Tim Tonner / translation: Angus Davison
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