Chelsea vs Bayern Munich  26/02/20

26 February 2020

Chelsea welcome in-form Bayern Munich to Stamford Bridge for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League (CL) last-16 tie, which will be their first meeting in this competition since the Blues’ penalty shoot-out win in the 2011/12 final.

The hosts have squeezed past the thigh Group H, finishing runners-up, just one point ahead of third-placed Ajax, thanks to a 2-1 home win over Lille in the final group stage fixture. After a disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Valencia in the curtain-raiser, Franck Lampard’s men have racked up a five-game unbeaten CL streak (W3, D2), with each of their successes during that run yielding a single-goal margin. The Premier League giants have made Stamford Bridge their fortress when it comes to their European games here. Indeed, they’ve lost only once in their last 14 continental home matches (W8, D5). What’s more, the Blues have won all three of their previous European two-legged ties against the Bundesliga opposition and have yet to lose at home to German visitors (W6, D3).

Meanwhile, the perennial Bundesliga champions have finished top of Group B with all six victories and an intimidating +19 goal difference (GF:24, GA:5). All but one of their group stage successes have produced a multiple-goal margin, with the Bavarians scoring over 2.5 goals on five of those occasions, too. Additionally, Hansi Flick’s players have not tasted defeat in their last 12 continental trips (W9, D3), managing over 1.5 match goals 11 times during that run. Bookies’ favorites to reach the quarter-finals, the visitors had won seven consecutive last-16 ties before succumbing to a 3-1 aggregate loss to Liverpool last season. However, Bayern have endured mixed fortunes in their previous six trips to England (W2, D2, L2), although they’ve avoided defeat in the last two (W1, D1).