Bayern's super star Franck Ribery and his new coach Pep Guardiola (Flickr)

The group of the reigning German champions Bayern Munich and English Premier League second seed Manchester City features a rematch of their 2011-12 group clashes. The British have yet to advance from the group stage in the Champions League. Meanwhile, Czech national champions Plzen and CSK Moscow will pose legitimate threats and are not easy to play against. See where they all stand.

Bayern Munich

Qualified as: German national champions

Key additions: coach Pep Guardiola, midfielder Mario Götze (Borussia Dortmund), midfielder Thiago Alcántara (FC Barcelona), defender Jan Kirchhoff (FSV Mainz 05)

Key losses: striker Mario Gómez (Florence), midfielder Emre Can (Bayer Leverkusen), midfielder Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (St. Petersburg)

Biggest achievements in Europe: 5x Champions League/European Cup winners ('74, '75, '76, '01, '13)

The Bavarian powerhouse proved last year along with Borussia Dortmund that the time for German soccer to shine has come. In their third Champions League final in four years, Bayern finally proved that their claim for the European crown was justified, after humiliating even top favorites Barcelona. But the "red's" hunger for titles has yet to be satisfied. With the probable retirement of last year's coach Jupp Heynckes, Bayern hired the world's currently most sought-after coach, Pep Guardiola, mastermind behind Barcelona's "tiki taka" style of play, which has dominated the world of soccer over the past few years. 

The signing of international shooting-stars Götze and Thiago elevated the standard of midfield excellence to a new level. With Toni Kroos, fan favorite Thomas Müller, German national team playmaker Sebastian Schweinsteiger and the most feared wing attack in the world, comprised of super stars Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, Guardiola has a midfield of potentially unprecedented quality at his disposal. 

The defensive corps, led by the best wing back in world soccer, team captain Philipp Lahm, includes further talents such as  Brazilian nationals Dante and Rafinha, as well as newly acquired Jan Kirchhoff and David Alaba. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is world class, too. While Guardiola doesn't prefer using a traditional striker in the forward position, last year's goal getter Mario Mandžukić and Claudio Pizarro add to the team's options. 

Prediction: Bayern Munich is an extra-ordinarily well-organized club, which has even managed to prevent the summer controversy around their general manager Uli Hoeneß to harm the club's development and performance. Starting 4-1-0 into the season, Guardiola's impact is becoming more visible every day. While the restructuring and emergence of a new system will take a little while to reach the aspired degree of perfection, the German side will be the team to beat in the 2013-14 Champions League season and remains the top favorite to win the title again.

Manchester City

Qualified as: 2nd seed in English Premier League

Key additions: coach Manuel Pellegrini (Villareal), midfielder Fernandinho (Shakhtar), forward Stevan Jovetić (Florence), striker Álvaro Negredo (FC Sevilla), winger Jesús Navas (FC Sevilla), centre back Martín Demichelis (Atlético Madrid)

Key losses: coach Roberto Mancini (fired), striker Carlos Tévez (Juventus), striker Roque Santa Cruz (Málaga), right back Maicon (AS Roma)

Biggest achievements in Europe: UEFA Cup winners ('70)

Manchester City's ambitions have long been high, however, their international success has been limited. Last year, the club was outperformed in the group stage of the Champions League by Real Madrid, Ajax Amsterdam and German finalists Borussia Dortmund. The year before, the team did not make it past Bayern and Napoli, finishing third and facing elimination in the group as well. This year, the team will get a chance to take revenge on Bayern. Even if they fail to do so, they are the best equipped team of the remaining three squads. 

The addition of striker Álvaro Negredo, who already has two goals in four appearances this season, will increase Man City's firepower immensely. New head coach Manuel Pellegrini will have a much more flexible offense with newcomer Jovetić and his great dribbling abilities, as well as Montenegrin, who can vary between attacking midfield or second striker. Together with strikers Edin Džeko and Sergio Agüero and the creative impulses of attacking midfielder Sam Nasri, the attacking side is Man City's most valuable asset. 

Jesús Navas has already played in every game for City so far and shown some good performances in the EPL, while Martín Demichelis will serve as a great back-up option to play centre back or defensive midfielder.

This year's losses all could be compensated as they include head coach Mancini, who was fired when the team was unable to defend their 2012 EPL championship, Maicon, who only played nine games for the team, and Carlos Tévez who was unhappy and wanted to leave. Paraguayan Striker Roque Santa Cruz had already been on loan to other teams for three years.

Prediction: With an improved, more flexible offensive squad and a new head coach, Man City seems destined to finally advance to the group of 16. The opponents in this group are in no way easy ones, but against CSKA and Plzen, City will be favorites. However, the team has only gone 2-1-1 so far this season and the new coach and players will still need some time to get into sync. Depending on how well they can adjust to one another and who will be their round of 16 opponents, their campaign will end there or in the quarterfinals. 

Edin Dzeko has proven to be a formidable striker for City. (Flickr)

CSKA Moscow

Qualified as: Russian national champions

Key addition: striker Vitinho (Botafogo)

Key loss: striker Vágner Love (Luneng)

Biggest achievement in Europe: UEFA Cup winners ('05)

Attacking midfielder Alan Dzagoev still has a place in the heart of European soccer fans following his performance in the 2012 European Championships in Poland and the Ukraine. 

He will be the playmaker that can be dangerous to any team in this group, particularly now that his team has been equipped with additional international talent, such as Brazilian striker and attacking midfield youngster Vitinho. However, losing striker Vágner Love will take some of the offensive firepower away from the team. 

Prediction: CSKA are a very hard team to play against. The team has started into the new season tremendously well, going 6-2-0. In earlier Champions League appearances, they managed to break out of the group stage twice, reaching the quarter finals in 2010 and the round of 16 in their most recent campaign in 2012. However, in a group with a better-equipped Man City and possibly the best soccer team in the world right now, Bayern Munich, CSKA will fall short. 

Viktoria Plzen

Qualified as: qualifying playoffs, Czech national champions

Key addition: midfielder Marek Havlik (Slavia Kromeriz)

Key loss: striker Marian Kovar (Jablonek)

Biggest achievement in Europe: third seed in Champions League group stage ('12), round of 16 Europa League ('13)

In the 2011-12 season, Plzen had their first ever appearance in the Champions League. They managed to beat Copenhagen on the way and steal 4 points from BATE. This earned them a respectable third seed in the group that included Barcelona and AC Milan. Last year, they won a Europa League group that consisted of Tel-Aviv, Académica and heavily favored Atlético Madrid. Even more astonishment followed, when Plzen beat Napoli twice in the round of 32, before being eliminated by Fenerbahçe in the round of 16. 

Plzen won the national championship for the second time in 102 years and remain the underdog in the group and the entire tournament. 

Prediction: The future looks bright for the Czech underdogs, as the almost purely Czech squad will certainly enjoy every minute they get to play and display their talents in the European limelight. The run will be limited to six games, but motivation in each of them will be sky-high especially when facing the superstars of Man City and Bayern Munich. 

Reach Staff Writer Alexander Wowra here.