Chelsea vs Bayern Munich
Stamford Bridge, London
Tuesday, 25-02-2020 @11pm
Ref: Clement Turpin (Fra)
The midfielder Ngolo Kante is expected to be out for about three weeks with an adductor injury and as a consquence, will miss the game at home to Bayern Munich on Tuesday. Christian Pulisic, Pedro Rodriguez and Callum Hudson-Odoi are also unlikely to feature, but Ruben Loftus-Cheek is available after returning on Saturday.
Bayern defender Niklas Sule (knee) and forward Ivan Perisic (ankle) are out. Spanish midfielder Javi Martinez could return after missing the previous six matches with a muscle tear.
Chelsea and Bayern Munich last faced each other in the 2012 Champions League final, when Chelsea won 4-3 on penalties at the Allianz Arena. The four previous matches in all competitions between Chelsea and Bayern Munich have produced 17 goals, an average of 4.25 per game.
Chelsea have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League 14 times in 17 seasons – only Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich can boast more knock-out stage appearances over that time. Chelsea have been eliminated in each of their last four two-legged Champions League ties, failing to win any of those eight games (D4 L4). Chelsea have won only one of their last six Champions League games at Stamford Bridge (D4 L1), a 2-1 victory against Lille last December. The Blues and Bayern Munich scored the joint-most goals from set-piece in this season’s Champions League group stages (5). Chelsea manager Frank Lampard scored three goals in four Champions League games against Bayern Munich as a player, his joint-best record in the competition.
Since losing the 2012 Champions League final against Chelsea, Bayern Munich have eliminated English clubs in four of their five subsequent home/away ties in the competition. Bayern Munich have reached the Champions League knockout stages for the 12th consecutive season – only Real Madrid (23) and Barcelona (16) are on a longer run. Bayern Munich won maximum points and had a goal difference of +19 in the Champions League group stages this season, the best-ever performance by a team in the group phase of the competition. None of the previous six teams to have won all their group games have lifted the trophy that same season. Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski has scored 10 goals in this season’s Champions League, only the second time he’s reached double figures in the tournament after 2012/13 with Borussia Dortmund. However, he has failed to find the net in his last 597 minutes in the knockout stages of the tournament, his longest drought.
Napoli vs Barcelona
Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Tuesday. 25-02-2020 @11pm
Ref: Felix Brych (Ger)
Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly and Fernando Llorente will both miss the tie.Koulibaly has returned to training after a muscle injury, while forward Llorente is ill. Defender Kevin Malcuit is a long-term absentee with cruciate ligament damage.
Striker Luis Suarez is one of five absentees for Barcelona, with Ousmane Dembele, Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto also injured. New forward signing Martin Braithwaite is not registered to play in the competition.
This will be the first competitive match between the two sides. Both managers, Gattuso and Quique Setien, will be taking charge of their first Champions League game.
Napoli have reached the Champions League knockout stage for the third time in six appearances. They have never made it past the last 16. Napoli were eliminated in their two previous European Cup/Champions League two-legged ties with Spanish opposition, both times against Real Madrid Napoli have only failed to score once in 20 Champions League games at their San Paolo stadium, a goalless draw against Dynamo Kiev in November 2016. Games involving Napoli produced five penalties in this season’s Champions League group stage, the joint-most alongside Atalanta (3 for, 2 against). Dries Mertens has been directly involved in 50% of Napoli’s goals in the Champions League since 2016/17, scoring 15 and assisting a further six (21 out of 42).
Barcelona’s last away win against Italian opposition in the Champions League knockout stages came in April 2006, when they beat AC Milan 1-0. Gennaro Gattuso was in the Milan team. Barcelona have progressed past the Champions League round of 16 in each of the last 12 seasons, the longest run in the history of the tournament. Barcelona have won only one of their last eight away games in the Champions League knockout phase (D2 L5), a 1-0 victory against Manchester Utd in April 2019. In those eight games, they have scored only two goals and conceded 17. Messi’s total of two goals in five games in this season’s Champions League group phase was his lowest for 10 years.
