Basel: Xherdan Shaqiri takes centerstage on Wednesday when the Switzerland star's current and future clubs, FC Basel and Bayern Munich, meet in the Champions League round-of-16.
Shaqiri, who agreed a reported €11.6 million ($15.3 million) transfer this month, will join the German giants at the end of the season - though he appears to be needed now.
Bayern are in crisis mode ahead of the first leg after being held 0-0 at the Bundesliga's bottom side Freiburg on Saturday and slipping to third, worried that a season that started promisingly could end in disaster.
"The alarm bells are ringing," Bayern sporting director Christian Nerlinger said. "We have to get back on track soonest, or the season is going to become very depressive."
An angry president Uli Hoeness went to the dressing room on Saturday, a sure sign that the front office is deeply concerned after watching Bayern create few chances against the worst defence in the league.
"We didn't run enough, we were not aggressive," captain Philipp Lahm said. "If you want to win the championship, you have to play differently."
Munich have won just two of their five league games since the winter break, falling four points behind defending champions Borussia Dortmund and a point behind Borussia Moenchengladbach, who beat Bayern 3-1 in the first of those games.
Shaqiri, a stocky 20-year-old winger, was destined to make the short journey to Munich during the January transfer window until Basel ousted Manchester United in the biggest upset of the group stages.
Instead, the Swiss champions hung on to their prize asset - known as "Baby Popeye" - and seek to shock another European titan at St. Jakob Park.
"(Shaqiri) has everything to become a really big player," Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes told Swiss media in Munich last week. "He has the talent but also the right professional attitude."
Lahm, the left-back who will mark Shaqiri, described him as "an intelligent player who doesn't only look to score. His influence affects how the team plays."
Basel also have forwards Alex Frei and Fabian Frei, who combined to score eight goals as Basel advanced to the Champions League last-16 for the first time since 2003.
Last season, Bayern beat Basel home and away in the group stages, winning 2-1 here with second-half goals from Bastian Schweinsteiger, who will miss Wednesday's match because of an injured right ankle.
Still, friendly relations run deep between two near-neighbors, who have powerhouse status at home.
Basel coach Heiko Vogel worked for Bayern for nine years as a youth coach, and succeeded Thorsten Fink, a Champions League runner-up with Bayern in 1999, who left to take charge at Hamburger SV last October.
Fink walked out on Basel within weeks of an impressive 3-3 draw away to Man United, and many expected the team's fortunes to slump.
Yet results improved and Basel removed the interim tag from 36-year-old Vogel by handing him a 2½-year contract in December, days after beating the English champions 2-1.
Basel have lost just one match under Vogel, at home to Benfica in the Champions League, and are unbeaten in the Swiss League since August.
That record was preserved last Thursday when substitute Valentin Stocker scored a 90th-minute leveler to earn the leaders a 2-2 draw at second-placed Young Boys. Stocker and Ivory Coast midfielder Gilles Yapi both returned from serious knee injuries.
Bayern are without defender Daniel Van Buyten, who is sidelined by a foot injury.
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