Bayern Munich begin the defence of their DFB-Pokal title on Sunday when they travel to third division side Rot-Weiss Erfurt.While the fixture appears to present little challenge on paper, the huge levels of expectation on Jurgen Klinsmann's side creates pressure all of its own.

Twelve months ago, they needed a dramatic penalty shoot-out to get past a team from the same level, Wacker Burghausen.

Goalkeeper Oliver Kahn made a sudden-death save to prevent the eventual cup winners from making a dreadful start to the season and Klinsmann will be wary of similar problems this weekend.

His task is made that much harder by the absence of up to nine squad members through injury or international duty, with Martin Demichelis, Tim Borowski, Hans-Jorg Butt, Luca Toni, Willy Sagnol and Franck Ribery in the treatment room, Bastian Schweinsteiger suffering from flu, and Breno and Jose Ernesto Sosa in action at the Olympic Games.

Bayern's visit to Erfurt is the final game of the first round on Sunday. The competition gets under way when Cologne travel to fifth-division side SV Nierdeauerbach.

On Friday, it will be Hertha Berlin's turn as they head to Eintracht Trier and Bochum, who make the short trip to Munster, while numerous second division sides, including Freiburg and Greuther Furth, have testing trips.

Werder Bremen kick off their season on Saturday at Eintracht Nordhorn, another club from the fifth tier of the German football pyramid.

Borussia Dortmund face an intriguing derby with Rot-Weiss Essen while Hannover are at Hallescher FC and Borussia Monchengladbach go to the lowest ranked club in the competition, sixth-division outfit Fichte Bielefeld.

Bundesliga newcomers Hoffenheim are not in action until Sunday, when they travel to Chemitz.

A total of 64 clubs line up at the start of the DFB-Pokal with those from the leagues below the second division earning automatic home advantage right the way through to the final, which takes place in Berlin next May.

Bayern defeated Borussia Dortmund in last season's final to lift the Pokal for the 14th time.

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