Bayern Munich host Besiktas in the Champions League round of 16

Bayern Munich welcome Besiktas on Tuesday night as they look to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the seventh season in a row.

The German champions have only met Besiktas twice in competitive appearances before, winning each fixture 2-0 in the group stages of Europe’s top competition over twenty years ago. Bayern Munich’s history with Turkish clubs is brief, with a successful encounter against Galatasaray coming in 1972.

Bayern have been in exquisite form for a while nown  as a sixth consecutive Meisterschale is all but sewn up already. Since Jupp Heynckes came out of retirement to succeed Carlo Ancelotti, die Roten have only lost once — to bogey side Borussia Mönchengladbach — and are through to the DFB-Pokal semi-finals.

It was a close shave in the last outing for Bayern as they left it late to defeat a resilient Wolfsburg side. Daniel Didavi gave the ’08-09 Bundesliga winners the lead after some terrible defending, before Sandro Wagner headed in a pinpoint cross from Arjen Robben to level it up. The Dutchman won another controversial penalty after missing his first, but this time Robert Lewandowski expertly dispatched the spot-kick for the winner.

Team News

Thiago Alcantara has returned to match fitness after suffering a thigh injury during the win over Anderlecht in late November. The Catalan started in the win at the Volkswagen Arena, looking sharp in the process, but was eventually replaced as a precautionary measure soon after the hour mark.

Heynckes stated in his press conference that Kingsley Coman has recovered from a cold and is eligible for the clash on Tuesday night.

Manuel Neuer remains on holiday to speed up his recovery, but other than that all other players are fit and healthy for the first time in years.

Predicted XI

Sven Ulreich is almost certain to retain his place for obvious reasons. The ex-Stuttgarter will be eager to impress in Europe’s biggest competition amid talks he could be in contention to make Germany’s World Cup squad in the summer.

Bayern’s backline at the weekend was noticeably reshuffled with Rafinha, Javi Martínez, Niklas Süle and Juan Bernat filling in. This shall almost certainly result in the traditional quadrumvirate of Joshua Kimmich, Mats Hummels, Jérôme Boateng and David Alaba reasserting their places, after a period of rest.

Moreover, Arturo Vidal, James Rodríguez and Thomas Müller are likely to come in, having flourished when playing together on previous occasions. Sebastian Rudy is likely to be dropped after a less-than-convincing performance, but Corentin Tolisso could have a say. Thiago is unlikely to start, for fear of easing the former Barcelona midfielder into the side.

Arjen Robben was impressive in his last outing and should retain his place in the line-up. However, Franck Ribéry may well be replaced by fellow countryman Kingsley Coman, who is continuing to excel under Heynckes’ reformed tactics.

Robert Lewandowski played little over ten minutes against Wolfsburg and will undoubtedly replace Sandro Wagner up front to continue his red-hot form. The Pole is the top scorer in the Bundesliga with twenty to his name and has a further three in five Champions League group stage appearances.

Despite the changes at the weekend, Heynckes insists there are no A and B-teams, but it is almost certain a strong, familiar line-up will be utilized against a tricky opponent.

"UlreichKimmich, Hummels, Boateng, AlabaVidalComan, J. Rodríguez, Müller, RobbenLewandowski."

Opposition Focus

Besiktas arrive in Bavaria in decent form, losing only one of their last nine games across league and cup competitions. The Turkish champions started a fairly strong team on Friday, but were held to a draw by relegation-battling Konyaspor.

Four of five Istanbul teams currently occupy the top spots in the Süper Lig, but the Black Eagles are languishing in fourth, five points off the top, despite conceding the joint fewest in the table.

However, Besiktas topped their tough Champions League group, with only four other teams in the competition conceding fewer goals. Interestingly, the Istanbul-based club won all three of their away games, becoming one of only two clubs to defeat FC Porto at the Estádio do Dragão this season – the other being Liverpool last week.

Next: Jupp Heynckes is a Bayern Munich great, no matter his future

Bayern will take confidence from the fact Besiktas have a poor record against German clubs. The Turks defeated an out-of-sorts RB Leipzig side home and away, but lost six of their last seven meetings with Bundesliga clubs beforehand, conceding twelve and scoring just two.

Prediction

Bayern Munich 2-0 Besiktas