Bayern Munich begin Champions League campaign against Dinamo Zagreb

After completing the draws for the new format of the Champions League on Thursday, UEFA released the complete schedule for the group stages of the competition. Bayern Munich will begin their Champions League campaign at Allianz Arena against Dinamo Zagreb on September 17. It is not a straightforward clash, but Bayern will be heavy favourites to start the campaign with a victory.

The Bavarian club will travel away to Villa Park on matchday two of the Champions League on October 2. The game against Aston Villa will come immediately after the big Bundesliga game against Bayer Leverkusen. Vincent Kompany’s men will have to be at their best to win both games.

Bayern will remain on the road for gameweek three as they face their former head coach Hansi Flick’s FC Barcelona. Bayern have dominated against Barcelona in the recent past, but Flick’s men have started the campaign on fire, winning all of their first three league games of the season.

The six-time Champions League winners will play at home on matchday four and five against Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain in November, respectively. Bayern will finish the year with matchday six of the Champions League away at Shakhtar Donetsk on December 10.

The additional two group games, which have been part of the changes under the new format, will take place in January. Bayern will travel to the Netherlands on January 22 to face Feyenoord. The group stage will come to an end for Die Roten with a home game against Slovan Bratislava on January 29.

Squad depth is going to be tested for Bayern during group stages

Bayern need to finish in the top eight after eight rounds of group games to go straight into the round of 16. The Bavarian club is favourite to win most of their group games, so fans will hope to see a high finish in the points table.

The new format of the Champions League is intriguing since every group game will have a big say on the final standings in the points table. With the addition of two games, the schedule for all top European clubs is condensed until January.

Bayern have at least two options in every position. Kompany will have to be smart with the load management of players to make sure they have enough quality and depth in the squad by the time they reach the business end of the season. For now, the Belgian coach will focus on Bayern’s first home game of the campaign against Freiburg on Sunday.