Guardiola unfazed by hotel drama

A hotel evacuation caused by a fire alarm is not going to knock Bayern Munich off their stride when they face CSKA Moscow in the Champions League today (kick-off 5pm), according to their coach Pep Guardiola.

The team were forced to leave their hotel in the centre of the Russian capital for several hours on Sunday night, but Guardiola has taken the incident lightly.

“It was nothing major,” Guardiola said. “We were in the restaurant and some people were having a massage.

“We had to stay out for two hours, but everything was under control.”

Bayern can ensure they take control of Group E at the Arena Khimki if they can follow up their last-gasp win over Manchester City in their opening fixture with another three points.

CSKA are regarded as the weakest side in the group, a theory underlined by their 5-1 defeat at Roma a fortnight ago, and Bayern know they cannot afford to drop points in this fixture.

“It’s a very dangerous and very strong group with Manchester City and Roma,” added Guardiola.

“We’ve got a big chance to win. If we win, then we can take a small step forwards, but nothing is going to be decided until the return game against CSKA.”

Bayern’s Bundesliga rivals Schalke face Maribor tonight (7.45pm), boosted by Saturday’s 2-1 win over local rivals Borussia Dortmund.

“It’s obviously never easy to find your focus for a Champions League game when you have just beaten Borussia Dortmund, but I’m sure the coach will get us ready for it,” said Schalke midfielder Max Meyer.

“We desperately want to beat Maribor now.”

That would complete a much-needed week of successes for the Royal Blues, who had not won a single match this season up until last Tuesday.

“Beating Dortmund was nice, but at the end of the day, it was still only a win,” added the 19-year-old.

“We need to find some consistency over the coming weeks and build on this.

“I think after making a weak start to the season, we have finally picked ourselves up.”

They have done that without Julian Draxler, who has missed both of Schalke’s recent league wins over Werder Bremen and Dortmund due to suspension, but the Germany international is set to return tonight.

“We’re certainly going to bring in a few fresh players,” the club’s director of sport Horst Heldt said.

Opponents Maribor made a promising start to their first group stage appearance in 15 years, holding Sporting Lisbon to a 1-1 draw in Slovenia. They have also lost only one of their last six European away games and will therefore be looking to get a result in Gelsenkirchen, before their double-header Group G favourites Chelsea. That is not going to be easy, though, according to Maribor director of sport Zlatko Zahovic. “We’re playing in the country of the world champions against a top team,” he said, suggesting the size of the crowd is one of the biggest challenges. “We’re only used to playing in front of 4,000 in our league and that is something we’ve got to get ready for.”