How Bayern Munich should line up against Mainz 05 in the DFB-Pokal

On Wednesday night, Bayern Munich will take to the field, as they say, to face Mainz 05 in the DFB-Pokal. It was at this stage of the competition last year that Bayern humiliatingly lost to third tier side Saarbrücken, with a last minute goal condemning Thomas Tuchel's side to a 2-1 defeat.

There is not much better reason than that to take every single round of the competition seriously. With no trophy won last season, Bayern will be hungry to win as much silverware as possible this season to make up for lost time.

Therefore, there should not be many changes made to the starting XI, but a couple of key ones. There is no doubt that the likes of Harry Kane and Michael Olise were taken off in the win over Bochum so they’d be fresher for this game. Here is who should come in.

Leroy Sané in line for first Bayern Munich start of the season

In central defense, this is an opportunity for Eric Dier to come in for Kim Min-jae. The rest of the back four should be the same as against Bochum, but this is an opportunity to give Kim some rest. The South Korean defender has already played a lot this season, for club and country, as well as racking up an obscene amount of air miles to go with the added jet lag too.

It feels like this game could be one too many. The reality is, he will probably start, and Kompany subbing Dier on for him against Bochum was probably with Wednesday night’s game in mind, but it still feels like an optimal time for some rest. Laimer – Upamecano – Dier – Davies is really not so bad.

The second change is to give Leroy Sané his first start of the season. The winger finally got his first Bundesliga goal in 365 days against Bochum, and it feels like the chance to strike whilst the iron is hot here. His confidence will be very high after that goal, and it is the chance to rebirth the Sané we saw in the opening months of last season.

It feels harsh on Kingsley Coman, who has two goals in his last two Bundesliga games, but it still feels like the right thing to do. The Frenchman also has more minutes, and more starts than Sané this season, so is not as in need of match sharpness.

The lineup that Kompany should go with against Mainz 05 on Wednesday; Neuer – Laimer, Upamecano, Dier, Davies – Kimmich, Palhinha – Olise, Musiala, Sané – Kane