Bayern Munich tackle Aston Villa with history and Harry Kane on their side, but have a score to settle
Having hammered Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 in their opening game, Bayern Munich’s UEFA Champions League campaign is set to get a little trickier as they now head to England to face Aston Villa.
The Bavarian giants began the road to the 2025 final at their own Allianz Arena by making the biggest statement of the opening round. Harry Kane plundered in four goals as Vincent Kompany’s new side became the first team to score nine goals in a Champions League game and have since made it six wins from six under the Belgian, with 29 goals scored and only five conceded.
However, next up is an Aston Villa side back in the big time and flying high. Revolutionised by three-time UEFA Europa League winner Unai Emery, the Basque native turned the English Premier League on its head last season by leapfrogging traditional ‘Big Six’ sides Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United into the Champions League.
Villa and Emery haven’t let off since. A productive summer transfer window has been followed by six wins from seven, including a 3-0 take down of Swiss outfit Young Boys in their first match back in Europe’s top tier competition in 42 years.
That last trip around the continent’s elite came just a year after they etched their name into footballing folklore by joining one of the most glorious lists in sport as European Cup winners in 1982. They did so by beating none other than Bayern themselves in the two sides’ only other meeting to date.
Peter Withe’s sole goal at Feyenoord’s De Kuip stadium denied Bayern a fourth European Cup, and they had to wait until 2001 until adding to their tally. The wait to settle the score with Villa has been even longer.
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Bayern fans of a certain generation will be desperate to get revenge when they head to Villa Park on 2 October, and thankfully for the travelling supporters, they have plenty in their favour.
Firstly, and most worryingly for Villa, is Kane. The England captain was last season’s European Golden Boot winner, and has kicked off 2024/25 at a similar pace with 10 goals and four assists in six games. There is worse news for the Premier League side too. Kane's record at Villa Park is impressive, netting five goals and two assists in six visits with Tottenham Hotspur.
His supporting cast of Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sané, Thomas Müller and Mathys Tel will put the frighteners up the Villans, but there’s no one quite as scary for English sides as Serge Gnabry.
Formerly on loan from Arsenal at neighbours and rivals West Bromwich Albion, Gnabry has become a superstar since leaving England, and made sure the nation hasn’t forgotten him. With Bayern he has a mega eight goals in eight games against English opposition, featuring a stunning four-goal performance away at Kane's Tottenham in 2019.
Watch: All of Serge Gnabry's Bundesliga goals
The English story is pretty similar for Bayern as a club, too. In 48 Champions League matches against Premier League sides, they boast an impressive 23 wins and only 12 defeats. The German record champions claimed back-to-back group wins over Manchester United and then progressed past Arsenal in the quarter-finals last term. They toppled Chelsea 7-1 on aggregate in 2020 - the same year of that 7-2 thumping of Spurs - and previously Arsenal 10-2 on aggregate in 2017, meaning a trip to the UK will be far less daunting than it may be for any other side not named Bayern.
There’s also the Munich club's preliminary round record which will give them the utmost confidence. Going into the match, the Bavarians are unbeaten in an unprecedented 41 group stage/league phase matches with an outrageous record of 37 wins and four defeats.
Watch: Bayern primed for Champions League title tilt
Villa and Emery will have to conjure up something special if they’re to win their first Champions League home match in over four decades, but as history suggests, it will likely be Kompany that comes away smiling, having exercised the demons of 1982.
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