Pep Guardiola praises "excellent" Bastian Schweinsteiger

Bayern Munich manager Bastian Schweinsteiger has admitted that his side are acutely aware of the chance to equal a Champions League record, while picking out midfield linchpin Bastian Schweinsteiger for special praise.

The Bavarians will match Barcelona's tally of nine successive wins in the competition with victory over Viktoria Plzen tonight, while also guaranteeing their place in the last 16.

Guardiola believes that Schweinsteiger has been crucial to Bayern's fine start to the campaign, which has seen them stay unbeaten in 11 Bundesliga matches.

Ahead of tonight's clash with Plzen the Spaniard told UEFA.com: "Every game in the Champions League is dangerous because every opponent you come up against in this competition has experience.

"Bastian Schweinsteiger has helped the team a lot recently because he is in excellent shape. In the last game, against Hoffenheim, he played really well, I was very satisfied with him. He is improving a lot but has problems with his ankle.

"It is always a challenge if you can break a record and you always make the effort to. We know about it [the chance to equal the competition's longest winning sequence], but we will put this to one side when we go on to the pitch. It is a bit more motivation for us, it is in my mind a bit, but we have to concentrate on the game itself. We hope to win it."

Bayern thrashed Plzen 5-0 in their first meeting with Plzen two weeks ago, but are without Arjen Robben for tonight's trip to the Czech Republic through injury.