Bundesliga restart kicks off in Munich

"I'm tingling", said Andreas Beck looking forward to the start of the second half of the season. "Bayern are the biggest side in Germany. It's always a big challenge, to get points in Munich". Last season Hoffenheim returned from Munich empty handed, after Luca Toni fired home in the dying minutes to give the hosts the valuable three points; the game finished 2-1. This time round 1899 Hoffenheim will be hoping to bring their poor form in the Bavarian capital to an abrupt end. "We're going to have to be really strong", explained defender Beck. "The game will be decided on fitness and compactness".

"If we want to win games like these, we play outside of our limits", knows Ralf Rangnick. The ground work for the Bundesliga has been laid down during the winter break. "We have worked sensibly and we are well prepared". On Friday the coach will be missing Chinedu Obasi and Isaac Vorsah (on African Nations duty), as well as Luiz Gustavo, due to his red card in the game against Stuttgart. Tobias Weis, Matthias Jaissle and Prince Tagoe are also out with injuries. But there is good news with the return of Sejad Salihovic to the squad. "At the moment it looks like he will be able to play", said Rangnick. However, whether his midfield colleague Carlos Eduardo will feature is still in doubt. The Brazilian playmaker is currently suffering from knee ligament problems.

FC Bayern München are also expected to make some changes for Friday's game. Although Arjen Robben's inclusion no longer hangs in the balance, Franck Ribery remains injured and will not feature. On Tuesday Bayern, who managed four wins in four at the end of 2009 to leave them in third, defeated FC Basel in a friendly in Switzerland. Despite going a goal behind, two goals from Miroslav Klose made sure the game finished 1-3.

Aside from the unfortunate 2-1 defeat at the Allianz Arena last season the two sides have met twice in the Bundesliga; on both occasions the game finished as a draw. At the start of this season Ivica Olic put Bayern ahead, only for Chinedu Obasi to find the equaliser before half time.