Bayern Munich vs. Slovan Bratislava: UEFA Champions League probable teams, match stats and LIVE blog!
Bayern Munich go in search of the win needed to potentially bypass the play-offs and secure automatic qualification for the UEFA Champions League last 16 when they take on Slovan Bratislava in their final fixture of the league phase on Wednesday (kick-off: 9pm CET).
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Despite suffering a shock 3-0 loss at Feyenoord last time out, Bayern are already guaranteed at least a place in the last 16 play-offs. However, victory at the Allianz Arena, coupled with favourable results involving the teams currently stationed between fifth and 14th, could lift them from 15th to the top eight and directly into the knockouts. The Bundesliga leaders successfully negotiated one potential banana skin at the weekend, with their 2-1 win at Freiburg standing them in good stead for the visit of already eliminated Slovan. Harry Kane scored his 23rd competitive goal of the season, while Josip Stanišić made his long-awaited return from injury after in-form midfielder Leon Goretzka went off in the first half with a hamstring injury. Fit or not, Goretzka serves a mandatory one-match suspension on Champions League Matchday 8, meaning Joshua Kimmich - who began the Freiburg game on the right of the defence - will almost certainly revert to central midfield, with Stanišić and Konrad Laimer vying for the full-back berth. There could also be some welcome minutes for João Palhinha, who returned to action as a substitute on Saturday after two months on the sidelines. Portuguese countryman Raphaël Guerreiro will continue at left-back in the absence of Alphonso Davies. Further forward, head coach Vincent Kompany is expected to cycle out wingers Leroy Sané and Serge Gnabry for Michael Olise and Kingsley Coman.
Whoever Kompany calls on to do the job, it is shaping up to be a long night at the office for Slovan. The reigning Slovakian champions - still on a winter break domestically - have lost all of their seven league phase fixtures, most recently going down 3-1 at home to 2023/24 Bundesliga runners-up VfB Stuttgart, and are one of nine clubs to have already been eliminated from the competition. The Stuttgart reverse took their goals-against tally to an unwanted competition-high 24, following largely one-sided defeats to Celtic (5-1), Manchester City (4-0), Girona (2-0), Dinamo Zagreb (4-1), AC Milan (3-2) and Atlético Madrid (3-1). They head to Munich playing for little more than pride and hoping to put up more of a fight than Zagreb managed on Matchday 1, when Kane scored four times in a record Champions League 9-1 win. Former Hannover and Cologne central defender Kevin Wimmer faces the thankless task of trying to keep the tournament's highest-scoring Englishman - with 34 goals in 50 Champions League appearances - quiet.
Watch: Freiburg 1-2 Bayern Munich - highlights
Match stats
- Bayern are unbeaten in their last 33 home games in the Champions League opening round (W31, D2), the joint-longest such run in the competition's history, level with Barcelona (November 2009 to November 2020).
- Kane has 13 goals in 18 Champions League appearances for Bayern, including a team-leading five in six games so far this season. His next will take him above Wayne Rooney as the outright English top scorer in the competition's history.
- Jamal Musiala has had a direct hand in seven goals in his last nine matches at the Allianz Arena in the Champions League's first round (group stage/ league phase). What's more, he has never lost a home game in the competition (W17, D3). Only John O’Shea (32), Rodri (27) and Carlos Tevez (23) have played more on home turf without losing.
- Kimmich has completed more passes (601) and been involved in more passes to a shot (59) than any player in this season's competition.
- Five of Bayern's 11 home goals in the league phase have come via set pieces (45 percent). In only three campaigns have they produced a higher share of goals from dead-ball situations on home soil.
- Slovan have never won an away game in the European Cup/ Champions League (D1, L8). Their UEFA competition record in Germany is: D1, L2.
Probable teams
Bayern: Neuer (c) - Stanišić, Upamecano, Dier, Guerreiro - Kimmich, Pavlović - Olise, Musiala, Coman - Kane
Out: Goretzka (suspended), Ito (foot), Peretz (kidney), Ulreich (suspended)
Doubtful: -
Coach: Vincent Kompany
Slovan: Takáč - Blackman, Kashia (c), Wimmer, Zuberu - Bajrić, Savvidis - Tolić - Mak, Strelec, Marcelli
Out: -
Doubtful: Kucka (knee)
Coach: Vladimír Weiss
LIVE blog!
League phase, Matchday 8 League phase, Matchday 8 Allianz Arena
The story so far: Slovan Bratislava
The story so far: Bayern Munich
Watch: Freiburg 1-2 Bayern Munich - highlights
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