Magath not ruling Kahn out of Milan clash
Kahn suffered a badly bruised thigh in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Hanover 96 and is a doubtful for the opening leg against last season's beaten finalists.
Bayern, eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, have no reason to fear Milan after holding their own against Serie A leaders Juventus in the opening group stage winning the home game 2-1 and losing the return by the same scoreline.
Magath would be a lot more confident against the six-times European champions with the inspirational Kahn in goal, however. "Kahn's swelling got worse overnight," the coach revealed on Sunday. "I'm hopeful, though, because I know our medical department. They'll pull it off."
Kahn himself is not so confident, despite the legendary abilities of chief Bayern doctor Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt, who has rescued the careers of many an athlete and regularly gets Bayern players back fit ahead of schedule.
"It's very painful," Kahn said. "We'll have to wait and see."
The 36-year-old keeper has been in inspired form since the turn of the year, providing a stream of top class saves to safeguard points for a Bayern side in generally unimpressive form.
The contrast was clear on Saturday as Michael Rensing proved unable to stop Hanover taking the lead five minutes after Kahn was forced off.
The German Under-21 international looked slow to react to a glancing header from Thomas Brdaric that gave Hanover the lead and Bayern needed a header from Michael Ballack a minute from time to rescue a point.
Bayern are odds on favourites to retain their Bundesliga crown, and clinch what would be a 20th German title in all, despite Saturday's hiccup.
Milan were being written off as Serie A also-rans last month but they are now roaring back to form. A 1-0 win over Cagliari on Saturday lifted them above Inter into second place, 10 points behind Juventus.
In their last three matches they've scored 10 goals and conceded one an encouraging sign for a defence that has struggled to cope without the injured Paolo Maldini and Cafu.
"We're playing well in defence now and (goalkeeper) Dida is regaining confidence like all his team mates," said Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Andriy Shevchenko has recovered from a bout of tendonitis and should lead the attack alongside Alberto Gilardino.
(Probable teams): Bayern Munich: Kahn or Rensing; Sagnol, Lucio, Ismael, Lizarazu; Schweinsteiger, Ballack, Demichelis, Ze Roberto; Pizarro, Makaay.
AC Milan: Dida; Stam, Nesta, Kaladze, Serginho; Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf; Kaka; Shevchenko, Gilardino.
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