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Bayern vs Chelsea Champions League preview: where to watch, predicted line-ups, team news

Bayern welcome Chelsea in their UEFA Champions League round of 16 decider – all you need to know.

Robert Lewandowski training on the eve of the game
Robert Lewandowski training on the eve of the game Getty Images

Bayern entertain Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 on 8 August at 21:00 CET. This page will update with team news, quotes and expert analysis as kick-off approaches.

Bayern vs Chelsea build-up

Where to watch the game on TV

Fans can find their local UEFA Champions League broadcast partner(s) here.

What happened in the first leg?

First leg highlights: Chelsea 0-3 Bayern


Bayern blew the Blues away on 25 February. Serge Gnabry struck twice in four early second-half minutes, but it was the visitors' third that was the pick of the bunch. Philippe Coutinho released the outstanding Alphonso Davies with a cute flick and his cross was buried by Robert Lewandowski.

Possible line-ups

Bayern: Neuer; Kimmich, Boateng, Alaba, Davies; Thiago, Goretzka; Gnabry, Müller, Perišić; Lewandowski
Out: Pavard (ankle)
Doubtful: Coman (thigh)
Misses next game if booked: Kimmich, Thiago
Players added to squad: Arrey-Mbi, Musiala, Tillman
Players removed from squad: Mai, Batista Meier, Singh, Zirkzee

Bayern: story so far, profile

Chelsea: Caballero; Rüdiger, Christensen, Zouma; James, Kovačić, Barkley, Emerson; Mount, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi
Out: Alonso (suspended), Jorginho (suspended), Pulišić (hamstring), Azpilicueta (hamstring), Pedro (shoulder), Gilmour (knee)
Doubts: Kanté (hamstring), Loftus-Cheek (hamstring), Willian (unspecified)
Misses next game if booked: Azpilicueta, Zouma
Players added to squad: none
Players removed from squad: none

Expert predictions

Jordan Maciel, Bayern reporter: Bayern took a big step towards the quarter-finals at Stamford Bridge and established themselves as one of the tournament favourites. Hansi Flick's side have gone from strength to strength since, romping to the German double amid a 17-match winning run. Chelsea have nothing to lose and an early goal may reignite this tie, but the hosts are simply too strong to let their commanding lead slip.

Jon Phipps, Chelsea reporter: Chelsea already faced an uphill battle after being outclassed by Bayern in west London – and now are down to the bare bones after losing three players to injury in their FA Cup final defeat by Arsenal, including their skipper César Azpilicueta and the outstanding Christian Pulišić. It seems unlikely N'Golo Kanté will be risked after seven games out as well, so the Blues are short of options. They may have the edge in match fitness having only just finished their domestic campaign, but it's going to be a really tough task.

Chelsea: story so far, profile

Latest results

Bayern
Form: WWWWW (all competitions, most recent first)
Where they finished: 1st in Bundesliga, German Cup winners

Chelsea
Form: LWLWW
Where they stand: 4th in Premier League, FA Cup finalists

All of Chelsea's Champions League goals this season

What the coaches say

Hans-Dieter Flick at the pre-match press conference
Hans-Dieter Flick at the pre-match press conferenceGetty Images

Hans-Dieter Flick, Bayern coach: "It’s about having respect. We have seen how Chelsea performed since the restart. We will take the same approach as we always do. We can have respect for our opponents, but we also need to focus on our own strengths. We always say the next game is what we’re focusing on 100%. We don’t think about what might come next. We want to win every win and to perform as we know we can, taking the positives into the next game."

Frank Lampard, Chelsea manager: "I believe we can [turn the tie]. We have to, the players have to. It's a huge task. We have to understand the situation we're in. Will be extremely tough. Games have turned to big degrees. We have to believe we have the opportunity to do something special. We've got to play with confidence. Can it free us up against a really good team? That's what I expect to see from the team. We have to tackle this in the right way."

Previous meetings

• In the 2012 UEFA Champions League final, Thomas Müller's 83rd-minute header had seemingly given Jupp Heynckes' Bayern victory at their Fußball Arena München home, but five minutes later Didier Drogba headed an equaliser for a Chelsea team managed by Roberto Di Matteo. Former Blues winger Arjen Robben had an extra-time penalty saved by Petr Čech and there was more spot-kick misery for Bayern in the shoot-out, despite Juan Mata's miss. Čech saved from Ivica Olić and Bastian Schweinsteiger, leaving Drogba to convert the decisive kick and give Chelsea a 4-3 penalty triumph. Lampard scored Chelsea's third attempt while Manuel Neuer converted from the spot for Bayern, for whom Jérôme Boateng played 120 minutes.

• Bayern were victorious in the 2013 UEFA Super Cup between the teams, at the Eden Arena in Prague. A Bayern side then coached by Josep Guardiola twice came from behind, Franck Ribéry (47) and Javi Martínez (120+1) cancelling out goals from Fernando Torres (8) and Eden Hazard (93) to force another penalty shoot-out against José Mourinho's Chelsea. Bayern ran out 5-4 winners on spot kicks after Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku had the tenth penalty of the shoot-out saved by Neuer. David Alaba scored Bayern's first kick; Lampard again converted Chelsea's third.

Watch Lampard double against Bayern from 2005

• Bayern and Chelsea first met in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, Mourinho's Blues prevailing 6-5 on aggregate against Felix Magath's Bayern. Chelsea won the first leg 4-2 at home, Lampard scoring twice with Drogba also on target. Lampard and Drogba struck again in the second leg as Bayern won 3-2 on the night but went out on aggregate.

Form guide

Bayern
• Bayern became only the seventh team – and first from Germany – to win all six games in the UEFA Champions League group stage this season, opening their campaign with a 3-0 win at home to Crvena zvezda before a 7-2 win at Tottenham in which Gnabry scored four goals. Olympiacos were then beaten away (3-2) and home (2-0), the latter result securing their place in the round of 16 with two games to spare, before a 6-0 victory at Crvena zvezda on Matchday 5 guaranteed first place in the section. Bayern rounded off a perfect group campaign with a 3-1 home win against Spurs in Munich.

• Lewandowski scored in Bayern's first five group games and is the top scorer in this season's UEFA Champions League with 11 goals.

Matchday 2 highlights: Tottenham 2-7 Bayern

• Bayern were the only side to collect maximum points in this season's group stage, and finished as top scorers with 24 goals – one short of Paris Saint-Germain's competition record, set in 2017/18.

• Bayern's round of 16 record is W11 L4. They had won seven ties in a row before losing to another English club, Liverpool, last season (0-0 a, 1-3 h). It was their earliest exit from the competition since an away-goals defeat at the hands of Internazionale in 2010/11. They have reached the knockout phase in each of the past 12 seasons.

• Bayern have lost three of their last five home matches in the UEFA Champions League knockout stage, including the last two – against Liverpool last season and Real Madrid in the 2017/18 semi-final first leg (1-2).

• Despite three victories this season, Bayern have won only five of their last nine UEFA Champions League matches in Munich (D2 L2).

• This is Bayern's 23rd UEFA Champions League campaign, fewer only than Barcelona and Real Madrid (both 24). They have now won their section 16 times.

• Champions of Germany for a record 29th time last season – with a landmark seventh successive Bundesliga title – Bayern had reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals or better in seven successive campaigns before losing to Liverpool last season.

• Bayern's record in two-legged ties against English clubs is W10 L6; they had won five in a row before last season, their first defeat since losing to Chelsea in the 2004/05 quarter-finals.

• Last season's defeat against Liverpool ended Bayern's four-match winning run at home to Premier League clubs. Prior to that they had not prevailed in four matches in Bavaria, including the 2012 final defeat on penalties by Chelsea.

• Bayern have lost only one of their 25 UEFA ties in which they won the away first leg, going out to Internazionale in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League round of 16 (1-0 away, 2-3 home). The most recent of their 24 aggregate wins was against Sevilla in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals (2-1 a, 0-0 h).

• They have won the away first leg 3-0 only once before, against Partizan in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round (3-1 h).

• Bayern's record in six UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W5 L1:
4-3 v Åtvidaberg, 1973/74 European Champion Clubs' Cup first round
9-8 v PAOK, 1983/84 UEFA Cup second round
5-4 v Valencia, 2000/01 UEFA Champions League final
3-1 v Real Madrid, 2011/12 UEFA Champions League semi-final
3-4 v Chelsea, 2011/12 UEFA Champions League final
5-4 v Chelsea, 2013 UEFA Super Cup

Chelsea
• Chelsea kicked off this season's group stage with a 1-0 defeat at home against Valencia, Lampard's side responding with successive away victories, beating LOSC Lille 2-1 and Ajax 1-0. They drew their next two games, coming back from 4-1 down to draw 4-4 with nine-man Ajax before a 2-2 draw at Valencia on Matchday 5, but made sure of a knockout place with a 2-1 win at home to LOSC. They finished level with Valencia on 11 points but behind the Spanish side on head-to-head record.

• The Matchday 5 draw at Valencia extended Chelsea's unbeaten run in European away matches to ten (W7 D3).

2012 final highlights: Chelsea 1-1 Bayern (4-3 pens)

• Third in last season's Premier League, Chelsea also qualified for the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League as the winners of the UEFA Europa League, and are taking part for the 16th time; this is their 14th appearance in the round of 16.

• The London club's record in the round of 16 is W8 L5. They have lost their last three contests at this stage, most recently going down 4-1 on aggregate to Barcelona (1-1 h, 0-3 a) in 2017/18.

• This is only the fourth time Chelsea have been away in the second leg of their round of 16 tie; their aggregate record in the previous three ties is W1 L2.

• Chelsea are without a win in seven away matches in the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds (D4 L3) – losing their last two – since a 1-0 first-leg success at Benfica in the quarter-finals of their victorious 2011/12 campaign.

• The first-leg defeat by Bayern also stretched their winless run in the competition's knockout phase, home and away, to nine games (D4 L5).

• The Blues were UEFA Europa League winners under Maurizio Sarri in 2018/19, beating Arsenal 4-1 in an all-English final in Baku as Chelsea claimed their second UEFA Europa League title having also triumphed in 2013, their only other appearance in the competition.

• Chelsea beat Eintracht Frankfurt in last season's UEFA Europa League semi-finals, going through on penalties after two 1-1 draws. That extended their perfect record in two-legged knockout contests against German clubs to three wins from as many ties.

• Last season's draw at Eintracht extended Chelsea's unbeaten run in Germany to four matches (W2 D2), since a 2-1 loss at Bayer Leverkusen in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Chelsea's last away European defeat came at Barcelona in that round of 16 second leg in March 2018 (0-3), although they did lose on penalties against Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup last August following a 2-2 draw after 120 minutes in Istanbul.

• Chelsea have suffered only two previous first-leg home defeats in UEFA competition, both in the UEFA Champions League, and went on to lose both ties on aggregate – against Barcelona in the 2005/06 round of 16 (1-2 h, 1-1 a) and Manchester United in the 2010/11 quarter-finals (0-1 h, 1-2 a).

• Chelsea's record in six UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W2 L4:
1-4 v Liverpool, 2006/07 UEFA Champions League semi-final
5-6 v Manchester United, 2007/08 UEFA Champions League final
4-3 v Bayern München, 2011/12 UEFA Champions League final
4-5 v Bayern München, 2013 UEFA Super Cup
4-3 v Eintracht Frankfurt, 2018/19 UEFA Europa League semi-final
4-5 v Liverpool, 2019 UEFA Super Cup

Links and trivia

Matchday 4 highlights: Chelsea 4-4 Ajax

• Have played in England:
Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool 2013–18)
Serge Gnabry (Arsenal 2011–16, West Brom 2015/16 (loan))
Jérôme Boateng (Manchester City 2010/11)

• Coutinho scored twice in Liverpool's 3-1 Premier League win at Stamford Bridge on 31 October 2015.

• Have played in Germany:
Andreas Christensen (Borussia Mönchengladbach 2015–17 (loan))
Christian Pulišić (Borussia Dortmund 2016–19)
Michy Batshuayi (Borussia Dortmund 2018 (loan))
Antonio Rüdiger (Stuttgart 2011–15)

• Müller scored twice and provided an assist as Germany won 4-1 against an England side including Lampard in the round of 16 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

• Müller scored one goal and set up another as Germany beat Willian's Brazil 7-1 in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals.

• International team-mates:
Willian & Philippe Coutinho (Brazil)
N'Golo Kanté, Kurt Zouma, Olivier Giroud & Lucas Hernandez, Benjamin Pavard, Kingsley Coman, Corentin Tolisso (France)
Antonio Rüdiger & Thomas Müller, Joshua Kimmich, Manuel Neuer, Jérôme Boateng, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka (Germany)
Mateo Kovačić & Ivan Perišić (Croatia)
César Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso, Pedro Rodríguez & Thiago Alcántara, Álvaro Odriozola (Spain)

• Kanté, Giroud, Hernandez, Pavard and Tolisso were all part of France's victorious 2018 World Cup squad. Perišić scored for Croatia in France's 4-2 final win.

• Jorginho scored Italy's goal in a 1-1 UEFA Nations League draw against Lewandowski's Poland in October 2018.

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