Why Pep Guardiola Is Under Most Pressure for Bayern Munich Following HSV Game

"We're back in the groove," was the message Pep Guardiola proclaimed after he watched his Bayern Munich side simply annihilate Hamburg 8-0 in their Bundesliga clash on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking to the press following the match—as reported on the club's official page—the Catalonian coach talked of the build-up play in his side being back to optimum levels before turning to the real prize on offer this season.

"We’ll turn our focus to the Champions League now," added the commander of this Bavarian battleship, turning his vessel and heading straight for the horizon. 

It may seem odd or even rather surreal to consider the reaction to such a win as anything but sheer joy and enthusiasm from Bayern fans, yet a large cloud rests on the horizon that this team is heading towards, and it has a name: Shakhtar Donetsk. 

For even though Guardiola did just enjoy watching his side demolish Hamburg on Saturday, he'll be under immense pressure to do the same against their Champions League foes on Tuesday.

The German champions go into this week's Euro clash in good spirits having overcome the likes of Roma, CSKA Moscow and Manchester City by some margins in the preliminary group stage of the competition.

Although City may have ruined what would have been a 100 percent record with a consolation 3-2 win in Manchester, the Munich side had already wrapped up the top spot with plenty of points to spare. 

Yet that doesn't mean that Bayern are in for an easy ride.

What will undoubtedly sit at the core of Guardiola's guarded fears is the thought of the Ukrainian side making full use of the stars at its disposal and confidently overcoming Bayern's reluctance to sit deep or at all bend their tactics to the team they're playing. 

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

Shakhtar, led by the esteemed Mircea Lucescu, may have dropped out of the competition at the group stages last season and lost 5-2 over two legs against Bayern's Bundesliga opponents Borussia Dortmund the season before, but the Ukrainian side has looked a little different this year. 

Over two games against BATE Borisov, Shahktar scored no less than 12 goals while holding Portuguese giants Porto to two well-fought draws to snatch second place from an impressive Athletic Bilbao side.

Sure, it may not seem like a perfect record by any means, but this team knows how to win and ultimately gets what it needs from a match. 

At the very centre of Shahktar's strength is a front line that would scare any sensible defender. Douglas Costa on the right, Taison on the left and Alex Teixeira through the middle have contributed no less than four goals and three assists between them in six games, according to Whoscored. 

Yet what will really worry the Bavarian giants is Luiz Adriano, a striker with nine goals from the aforementioned six games, a tally that puts the Brazilian forward one goal above Lionel Messi in the competition, four above Cristiano Ronaldo and a total that accounts for 60 percent of Shahktar's total goal count. If Lucescu's side is going to hurt Bayern, it will be through this man. 

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

But on Tuesday, few will be keeping their eyes peeled for any Brazilian forwards in the orange of Donetsk. Instead, all the cameras will be firmly placed and pointed towards Guardiola and the look of trepidation across his face.

The Champions League is the ultimate goal for any Bayern manager, and this one will know well that any potential slip-up in Ukraine could come to define his time in charge of the Munich giants. 

Bayern may have just beaten lowly Hamburg by a handsome score to stay top of the Bundesliga, but now all the pressure is firmly placed on Guardiola to continue winning in Europe. 

@Sbienkowski