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Bayern Munich begin Champions League campaign against Anderlecht

By Kiran Thakare

SINGAPORE - JULY 25: Rafinha of Bayern Munich celebrates after scoring the first goal during the International Champions Cup match between Chelsea FC and FC Bayern Munich at National Stadium on July 25, 2017 in Singapore. (Photo by Stanley Chou/Getty Images for ICC)
SINGAPORE - JULY 25: Rafinha of Bayern Munich celebrates after scoring the first goal during the International Champions Cup match between Chelsea FC and FC Bayern Munich at National Stadium on July 25, 2017 in Singapore. (Photo by Stanley Chou/Getty Images for ICC) /
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Bayern Munich face Anderlecht in their first Champions League game of the new season.

The Bavarians will face the Belgian club at the Allianz Arena. Bayern Munich have been drawn with Paris Saint Germain, Celtic and Anderlecht in group B. Carlo Ancelotti’s men finished second in their group last season, which included Atletico Madrid, and the Italian will be hoping for a better finish this season.

Bayern have not started the season in the most convincing way. The reigning German champions suffered a 2-0 defeat against Hoffenheim on Saturday. Even in their two Bundesliga wins they have not been able to play their best football.

Anderlecht have also endured a disastrous start to their campaign in Belgium. They won the Belgian Super cup but hwve struggled to get wins in the league. Anderlecht sit at 10th in the league with two wins in their first six games.

Team News

Bayern Munich welcomed back James Rodriguez on Saturday as the Colombian was out from the start of the season. The Bavarians will now also have Jerome Boateng fit to play against the Belgian side. Boateng has been out since May due to a serious injury he suffered in the final league game.

Juan Bernat and David Alaba will be out of action tommorow due to injuries. On the other hand Arturo Vidal will not feature against Anderlecht due to suspension. The Chilean was sent off against Real Madrid in April. Apart from these three absentees, Ancelotti has all other players available for selection.

Predicted XI

Ancelotti is likely to make very few changes to his defense and goalkeeper. Manuel Neuer will lead the team as he has slowly gained complete match rhythm. Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels will probably form the center-back partnership. The Italian has limited options in the full-back positions right now so Joshua Kimmich and Rafinha will play right-back and left-back respectively.

In the midfield, Sebastian Rudy will likely make his Champions League debut. Thiago Alcantara will play the box-to-box midfield role while Rudy will be the holding midfielder. Ancelotti will switch to the 4-2-3-1 formation as James Rodriguez is fit now and can play the attacking midfield role.

Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery didn’t start on Saturday so it is likely that they will play against Anderlecht. Robert Lewandowski will lead the line for the German champions.

Neuer

Kimmich – Hummels – Boateng – Rafinha

Rudy- Thiago

Robben- James – Ribery

Lewandowski

Opposition focus-

Anderlecht are playing Bayern Munich at the wrong time. The Belgian side are struggling to find form while Bayern will like to respond strongly after Saturday’s defeat. Anderlecht will come to Allianz Arena as underdogs and will try to exploit the recent leaky defense of Bayern.

Next: Bayern Munich players lacked concentration against Hoffenheim

The Belgian side lost Youri Tielemans this summer who was their most important player last season. Anderlecht still have some young player who can cause Bayern some problems on Tuesday. Leander Dendoncker is a key player for the visitors as he has knack of getting goals from midfield. Along with him Henry Onyekuru is also a plater to watch out for. The Nigerian has started his loan spell well at the Belgian side with two goals till now.

Predictions-

Bayern Munich 3-0 Anderlecht