Berlin (dpa) - Unfancied Augsburg again have the chance to spoil
Bayern Munich's undefeated record when they host the Bundesliga
champions on Saturday.
The last time the sides met, Augsburg downed Bayern 1-0 in April, ending Bayern's record run of 53 undefeated league games.
Pep Guardiola's side are now 14 games without defeat this season
as they again visit their Bavarian neighbours, who have risen to third in the table with a club record four straight victories - the first time they have ever been in a Champions League qualifying place.
"Augsburg will be a difficult game no matter where they stand in the table," Bayern midfielder Thomas Mueller said.
"It was always tight. We know what they are like and we are well prepared for them."
Augsburg, promoted for the first time to the Bundesliga in 2011, do not have the household names to compare with Bayern - whose turnover is more than 10 times greater - but coach Markus Weinzierl has formed a hard-working side with the best ball-winning data of the league.
The match is "an absolute highlight," Weinzierl, who was on Bayern's books as a player but never made the first team, told Kicker magazine.
"To have a constellation like this on the 15th match day is a sensation for Augsburg. We will enjoy every moment," he said.
"It would be normal for Bayern to win, but what is normal this year in the Bundesliga? We will do everything we can to achieve another sensation."
Bayern are 12 points ahead of Augsburg and have a seven-point lead over second-placed Wolfsburg who entertain mid-table Paderborn on Sunday.
Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Moenchengladbach - both lurking a point behind Augsburg - meet in Sunday's other game.
Leverkusen returned from a goalless draw with Benfica on Tuesday - with a place in the Champions League last 16 in the bag - while Moenchengladbach were hoping Thursday at home to Zurich to clinch a place in the Europa League knock-out stage.
Schalke - level on points with Leverkusen and Gladbach and also fresh from Champions League success with a 1-0 win at Maribor Wednesday - are at home to Cologne.
The battle to escape the danger zone - with only five points separating the bottom nine - continues elsewhere.
Bottom side VfB Stuttgart travel to Mainz, second-last Werder Bremen greet Hanover and Freiburg take on SV Hamburg.
Borussia Dortmund meanwhile travel to fellow strugglers Hertha Berlin hoping to build on last weekend's 1-0 defeat of Hoffenheim to move further from the danger zone.
Coach Juergen Klopp said Thursday Australia's Mitchell Langerak will be between the posts for the remaining three matches of the year.
Langerak, who was preferred against Hoffenheim and Anderlecht, keeps Germany goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller on the substitutes' bench.
Klopp is still uncertain whether he will have both centre-half Mats Hummels (back problem) and midfielder Sebastian Kehl (bruised rib) available after they missed the Champions League 1-1 draw with Anderlecht on Tuesday.
Former Hertha player Lukasz Piszcek, who was rested in Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Anderlecht, is expected to return.
Both sides have 14 points - two off the bottom - with Hertha out to reverse a slide which has seen them lose four of the last five league games.
The last time the sides met, Augsburg downed Bayern 1-0 in April, ending Bayern's record run of 53 undefeated league games.
Pep Guardiola's side are now 14 games without defeat this season
as they again visit their Bavarian neighbours, who have risen to third in the table with a club record four straight victories - the first time they have ever been in a Champions League qualifying place.
"Augsburg will be a difficult game no matter where they stand in the table," Bayern midfielder Thomas Mueller said.
"It was always tight. We know what they are like and we are well prepared for them."
Augsburg, promoted for the first time to the Bundesliga in 2011, do not have the household names to compare with Bayern - whose turnover is more than 10 times greater - but coach Markus Weinzierl has formed a hard-working side with the best ball-winning data of the league.
The match is "an absolute highlight," Weinzierl, who was on Bayern's books as a player but never made the first team, told Kicker magazine.
"To have a constellation like this on the 15th match day is a sensation for Augsburg. We will enjoy every moment," he said.
"It would be normal for Bayern to win, but what is normal this year in the Bundesliga? We will do everything we can to achieve another sensation."
Bayern are 12 points ahead of Augsburg and have a seven-point lead over second-placed Wolfsburg who entertain mid-table Paderborn on Sunday.
Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Moenchengladbach - both lurking a point behind Augsburg - meet in Sunday's other game.
Leverkusen returned from a goalless draw with Benfica on Tuesday - with a place in the Champions League last 16 in the bag - while Moenchengladbach were hoping Thursday at home to Zurich to clinch a place in the Europa League knock-out stage.
Schalke - level on points with Leverkusen and Gladbach and also fresh from Champions League success with a 1-0 win at Maribor Wednesday - are at home to Cologne.
The battle to escape the danger zone - with only five points separating the bottom nine - continues elsewhere.
Bottom side VfB Stuttgart travel to Mainz, second-last Werder Bremen greet Hanover and Freiburg take on SV Hamburg.
Borussia Dortmund meanwhile travel to fellow strugglers Hertha Berlin hoping to build on last weekend's 1-0 defeat of Hoffenheim to move further from the danger zone.
Coach Juergen Klopp said Thursday Australia's Mitchell Langerak will be between the posts for the remaining three matches of the year.
Langerak, who was preferred against Hoffenheim and Anderlecht, keeps Germany goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller on the substitutes' bench.
Klopp is still uncertain whether he will have both centre-half Mats Hummels (back problem) and midfielder Sebastian Kehl (bruised rib) available after they missed the Champions League 1-1 draw with Anderlecht on Tuesday.
Former Hertha player Lukasz Piszcek, who was rested in Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Anderlecht, is expected to return.
Both sides have 14 points - two off the bottom - with Hertha out to reverse a slide which has seen them lose four of the last five league games.
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