STAR PREVIEW: Chelsea v Bayern Munich

Chelsea improved their chances of playing Champions League football next season with a big win over Tottenham at the weekend but they could face a major struggle to stay in this season’s competition after the visit of Bayern Munich in tonight’s last 16 first leg.

Frank Lampard made bold changes to his side and was rewarded with a comprehensive 2-1 win that flattered Spurs as the hosts won the shot count 17-5, and the shots on target count 7-3, whilst producing an expected goals figure of 1.9 to 0.3 for Spurs. It was probably one of Chelsea’s best performances in a while and the decision to hand Olivier Giroud his first start in three months was rewarded within 14 minutes. The Blues also benefited greatly from the call to replace Michy Batshuayi, Pedro, Willian, and the injured N’Golo Kante with Ross Barkley, Mason Mount and Marcos Alonso, with Mount and Barkley in particular having strong games. The move to a 3-4-2-1 formation also saw Alonso shine in particular.

That should do plenty for them going forward, but Spurs arrived without their leading two strikers in the shape of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, who had scored 33 goals between them, robbing them of not only their two top scorers but also two of their very best link up players. Their absence was notable, with only Lucas Moura and Giovani Lo Celso having any real sort of presence going forward, whilst Steven Bergwijn struggled badly with little support, especially as Dele Alli was left on the bench.

Bayern Munich will not arrive with a lack of forward options. They are led by the remarkable Robert Lewandowski – the first player to score 40 goals for club and country this season – became the Bundesliga’s fourth-highest goalscorer of all-time with a double against Paderborn at the weekend, making it 42 goals in all competitions this season.

Lewandowski might be goalless in his last eight Champions League knockout game but he’s scored nine career goals during the last 16 and will be ably supported by Serge Gnabry (20 goals this season). Munich also have excellent supporting forward options in the shape of Kingsley Coman (eight goals this season) and a top class creative forward in the shape of Thomas Muller, who has 14 assists in the Bundesliga this season.

Chelsea v Bayern Munich
UEFA Champions League Last-16 1st Leg
20:00 BT Sport 2 / BT Sport Ultimate

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches, since 2010)
AUG 2013 UEFA SUPER CUP Bayern Munich 2-2 Chelsea
MAY 2012 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL Bayern Munich 1-1 Chelsea

Bayern are bursting with go forward options and have thrived since Hans-Dieter Flick replaced Nico Kovac, winning 25 points from a possible 27 since he arrived in the Bundesliga. This will obviously be a step up from domestic Bundesliga competition for Munich but this group of players are experienced in knockout football and Bayern shouldn’t fear visiting the Bridge.

Chelsea have won only nine of their 20 Premier League games at Stamford Bridge this season and they also had struggles at Stamford Bridge in the group stages; They lost 1-0 to Valencia, beat a Lille side 2-1 that took a single point from the group stages, and drew 4-4 with Ajax after coming from 4-1 down, scoring two goals after the visitors had two players sent off.

Chelsea’s new formation could improve performances quite rapidly based on their weekend win against Spurs, but Bayern, with all of their attacking options present, will surely present a much tougher challenge and they have every chance of taking a first-leg lead back to Germany.

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