UEFA Champions League: Round of 16
Venue: Bay Arena
Time: 2300
What you need to know
The fifth H2H of the season between Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich could be make or break for Xabi Alonso’s men, who have a mountain to climb after being thumped 3-0 in the first leg last week.
Only four sides in UEFA Champions League (UCL) history have overturned a 3+ goal deficit from the first leg to progress, and Die Werkself hardly come into this in confident fashion after a 2-0 defeat to Werder Bremen on Saturday also saw star player Florian Wirtz forced off injured.
Leverkusen could now lose three successive matches for the first time since August 2022 before Alonso’s arrival, and given their big gap to table-topping Bayern in the Bundesliga, a defeat would mean the DFB-Pokal is all they realistically have left to play for.
The odds are stacked against them with Opta giving them just a 4% chance of progressing to their first UCL quarter-final since 2001/02, but they should at least put up a fight having avoided defeat in all three prior home H2Hs under Alonso (W2, D1).
Compounding Leverkusen’s misery further at the weekend was Bayern’s stunning 3-2 home loss to relegation-threatened Bochum, who took full advantage of playing over half the game against ten men. With several key players rested from the starting XI, Vincent Kompany’s men should be fresh as they look to reach the quarter-finals of this competition for the 35th time – only Real Madrid have done so more often.
Bayern have hardly been at their supreme best on their UCL travels this season, already suffering two away defeats by a three-goal margin this term.
A repeat could see them eliminated at the last 16 stage for just the second time since 2011, and as Bayern have failed to win multiple games in the same campaign against Leverkusen since 2020/21, a nervous night could be in store at the BayArena.
Form – last six games
Leverkusen – DDWWLL
Bayern – DDWWWL
Possible starting line-ups
Leverkusen: Kovar; Mukiele, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Xhaka, Palacios, Grimaldo; Tella, Wirtz; Boniface
Bayern: Urbig; Stanisic, Upamecano, Kim, Guerreiro; Goretzka, Kimmich; Olise, Musiala, Coman; Kane .
Players to watch
Leverkusen: Florian Wirtz
Bayern: Harry Kane
Injury list
Leverkusen: Robert Andrich
Bayern: Manuel Neur, Dayot Upamecano.
