Thirteen stars away on international duty

The first round of international friendlies takes place this Wednesday, prompting some 13 Bayern players to set off for their national squads on Sunday evening. As always, Jupp Heynckes and his staff will take charge of a greatly-reduced FCB squad until the internationals return to Munich from Thursday afternoon onwards. fcbayern.de reviews the Bayern stars’ travel commitments.

Seven Bayern men in Paris
Germany meet France at Stade de France (pictured above) in the Paris suburb of St Denis at 9 pm on Wednesday. The Germans’ quest for a first victory over the 1998 World Cup winners in fully 26 years will involve captain Philipp Lahm, Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller, Jerome Boateng, Tony Kroos and Mario Gomez.

Les Bleus winger Franck Ribéry is determined to help his team maintain their excellent record, as he exclusively told fcbayern.de. The Germans are without Bastian Schweinsteiger (ankle) and Holger Badstuber (cruciate).

Dante with Brazil in London
A childhood dream came a step nearer for Dante with a maiden Brazil call-up, the Bayern centre-back’s consistent excellence in recent months earning him a shot at a first Selecao cap against England at Wembley in London, a worthy stage for such a momentous event. “I've believed this moment would come throughout my career," the affable FCB man declared.

If Jupp Heynckes was picking the team, Dante would be a regular. “In terms of character and willingness, he's a player every coach would want," said the FCB supremo, “I think he not only has a big chance of going to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but of playing too." Naturally, that decision rests with Selecao chief Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Mandzukic with Croatia in London
Mario Mandzukic leads the Bundesliga scoring chart on 14 goals and is in scintillating form. The marksman is now looking to find the target for Croatia and also plays in London on Wednesday night, although the East Europeans’ opponents at Fulham's Craven Cottage are not England but South Korea.

Alaba with Austria in Swansea
Just like Mandzukic and Dante, David Alaba is travelling to the UK this week. The utility man is almost certain to feature in Austria's meeting with Wales at Liberty Stadium in Swansea (pictured right).

Van Buyten with Belgium in Brussels
Daniel van Buyten is back in the Bayern team, and is now hoping to displace one of Belgium centre-backs Thomas Vermaelen and Vincent Kompany when the Red Devils take on Slovakia in Brussels.

Tymoshchuk with Ukraine in Seville
Norway take on Ukraine and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk at 7 pm on Wednesday evening, but not in Oslo or Kyiv, where the weather at this time of year is unsuitable for football. Instead, the game takes place in the altogether more agreeable winter conditions of Seville in southern Spain.

Pizarro with Peru in Port-of-Spain
As so often, Claudio Pizarro has furthest to go for this round of internationals. The Peru striker is set to clock up the 8,000 km from Munich to Port-of-Spain for his country's friendly against Trinidad and Tobago.

Thirteen stars still in Munich
With 13 players away on their travels, the squad for training in Munich will comprise exactly the same number until Thursday, and includes Javi Martinez and Arjen Robben, who were not called up this time round. Rafinha and Xherdan Shaqiri, who missed the weekend trip to Mainz with injury, are expected to resume the squad programme in the next few days, with Schweinsteiger ordered to go easy until at least the middle of the week.