Ottmar Hitzfeld, the Bayern Munich manager, expects Aberdeen to produce a battling display when the teams meet in the second leg of the Uefa Cup round of 32 tie in the Allianz Arena tonight.

Hitzfeld, who this week signed a contract to become the coach of the Switzerland national side after Euro 2008, aims to leave Bayern on a high but last night he admitted that Aberdeen’s young players, such as Sone Aluko, on loan from Birmingham City, had impressed him and he wondered why the England youth star was not a more regular feature of the Pittodrie side.

Aluko and Josh Walker, another temporary employee, on loan from Middlesbrough until the end of the season, were the scorers for Aberdeen when the teams drew 2-2 at Pittodrie a week ago, with the former taking the eye.

“I don’t want to talk about any specific names,” Hitzfeld said, “but let me just mention in general that I was impressed with the younger players. Aluko, for example, played against Copenhagen \ and was the best player on the pitch.

“I am surprised that he is not in Aberdeen’s starting team more often, though I have to admit I don’t know the team that well and certainly not as well as Jimmy Calderwood \ does. He knows the strengths and weaknesses of his individual players and it may be that Aluko played the match of his life against Copenhagen and also against us. What matters is consistency.”

Hitzfeld revealed that Franck Ribéry, the France midfield player, who has missed recent games because of a hamstring injury, will not play tonight. There is also a doubt over the fitness of Bastian Schweinsteiger, who will have a late fitness test before a decision is made. Such absentees seemed not to concern him.

“Aberdeen play in certain styles,” he added, “and one of those is to be very strong and aggressive in tackles and they will literally fight for ground. It is part of their philosophy but we will have other means and tactics to prepare for that.

“We are the favourites and we want to win and want to get to the final and given that, we have to win this match. Aberdeen will be strong; they will be aggressive and fast; but then again we are at home and this will be an influence. There will be a better surface than there was in Aberdeen and this will be an important factor.”

Hitzfeld refused to take the bait about the form of Luca Toni, the striker he signed from Fiorentina for £10 million, who scored a hat-trick against Hannover in the Bundesliga last Sunday, pointing to Bayern’s overall team performance and their strong defensive qualities.

Toni himself admitted to being surprised by Aberdeen’s performance in the first leg of the tie, citing Pittodrie’s “hot atmosphere” and their vociferous support as the reasons for their display. But he issued a powerful warning to Aberdeen when he said: “We are the stronger team and this is something that we are going to show in the game.”

For Aberdeen and the 4,800 fans who have followed them to Munich, it promises to be an unforgettable night in the Allianz Arena, a state-of-the-art stadium of which the citizens of the Bavarian capital are proud. But Barry Nicholson, one of Aberdeen's most experienced campaigners, shrugged off suggestions that some of his team-mates might “freeze” before 60,000 supporters of one of Europe’s leading clubs.

“We surprised Bayern a week ago at Pittodrie,” he said, “and hopefully we can do the same on their own patch. We are under no illusions that it will be a very difficult game, probably different from the one last Thursday, but the way to look at it is to have a go. We’ll certainly attack when we can but be a little cautious. We hope to get in behind them and cause them problems.

“We all enjoyed playing against the top players and we want to test ourselves against them and I’m sure we’ll be right up for it. The younger ones will probably be less nervous than the older players. Josh and Sone took all the plaudits for their goals last week and I think they’ll go out and relish it.”

Bayern Munich (possible; 4-4-2): O Kahn — W Sagnol, Lucio, D van Buyten, P Lahm — H Altintrop, Zé Roberto, M van Bommel, B Schweinsteiger — M Klose, L Toni.

Aberdeen (possible; 4-4-1-1): J Langfield — A Maybury, A Diamond, A Considine, R Foster — B Nicholson, J Walker, S Severin, S Aluko — D Mackie — L Miller.

Referee: P Malek (Poland).

Television: Live on Setanta Sports 1 from 5.30pm (kick-off 5.45pm)