James Rodriguez is set to return to Bayern Munich’s starting line-up when the record Bundesliga champions head to Istanbul to take on Besiktas on Wednesday (kick-off: 6:00 PM CET/5:00 PM GMT/12:00 PM ET), with a 5-0 first-leg win meaning Jupp Heynckes’ men are all but assured of passage to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
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The Bavarians stormed to a five-goal first-leg advantage three weeks ago, with Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Müller bagging braces either side of a Kingsley Coman strike at the Allianz Arena, and will surely fancy their chances of making the last eight for the seventh year running. Having sat out of the 6-0 drubbing of Hamburg with a calf complaint on Saturday, James should come back into the side. Indeed, Heynckes may opt to rotate from back to front, with a trip to RB Leipzig coming as soon as next Sunday. Midfielder Corentin Tolisso is a major doubt, however, after suffering severe bruising to his shin against HSV and will be assessed further in the run-up to the trip to Istanbul.
Besiktas are without the suspended defender Domagoj Vida after his red card at the Allianz, but they will have an in-form Ricardo Quaresma to call upon. The Portuguese winger has provided four assists in the competition so far and scored against Bayern in a knockout tie for Porto in 2014/15. Last season's Turkish SuperLig winners currently sit second in the domestic standings, having won all three of their top-flight assignments since losing so comprehensively in Munich. A much-changed side won 1-0 at relegation-threatened Genclerbirligi on Saturday.
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