Bayern Munich look for three important points as they host Celtic FC at the Allianz Arena in Wednesday’s Champions League clash.
Coming hot off the heels of a dominant display over the weekend, Bayern Munich face Celtic FC at home in their third Champions League match this season.
Die Roten’s victory over Freiburg on Saturday marked an emphatic win in Jupp Heynckes’ debut match of his fourth term as Bayern manager. He’ll be hoping his squad can do the same in Scotland in the midweek clash.
Team News
Wednesday’s match will be Heynckes’ first since winning the final at Wembley in 2013. Bayern’s last match in the Champions League was a disappointing 3-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain. They’ll want to get back on track with a big win in Munich.
Heynckes won’t quite have a full squad from which to select his starting XI. Javi Martinez picked up a knock in Saturday’s win and will be sidelined for this match. Manuel Neuer and Franck Ribery are both out with long-term injuries, while Juan Bernat has not quite fully recovered from an injury suffered in pre-season. Arturo Vidal remains questionable for the match as well. The Chilean injured himself in training last week and missed Saturday’s match.
Predicted XI
Given the importance of picking up all three points, Heynckes will likely field a strong starting line-up. Sven Ulreich will no doubt deputize for Manuel Neuer in goal at the back of the likely 4-2-3-1. Joshua Kimmich and David Alaba will star at right and left-back respectively. And unless Niklas Sule fills in for one of the pair, Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels will form the central defensive partnership.
In the midfield, Sebastian Rudy and Thiago Alcantara will likely take the holding midfield roles, Corentin Tolisso saved for the weekend match against Hamburg — a much weaker opposition.
The only question concerning Bayern’s attacking midfield trio is whether or not James Rodriguez will make the starting line-up. If so, who will he replace? Given his relationship with Heynckes, it’s hard to envision Thomas Muller sits the bench for this one. If James is to start, he’ll have to replace either Arjen Robben or Kingsley Coman. I believe it will be the former; Coman looked too promising over the weekend to bench.
Up front, Robert Lewandowski will — as always — be leading the Bavarian line.
"UlreichKimmich – Hummels – Boateng – AlabaRudy – ThiagoJames – Muller – ComanLewandowski"
Opposition Focus
Celtic sit first in the Scottish Premier League, ahead of rivals Aberdeen only on goal differential. The Bhoys have been completely dominant in their domestic league since Brendan Rodgers took over as club manager prior to last season.
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Bayern Munich, however should simply prove too difficult of an opposition for the Scottish league leaders. Celtic should put up a solid fight away from home, but expect Bayern to win this one comfortably.
Prediction
Bayern 4-0 Celtic