Bayern Munich vs Lazio

Allianz Arena is the venue as Bayern Munich and Lazio go head-to-head in the return leg of their keenly-contested Champions League last-16 tie.

Bayern Munich’s quest to win a 12th consecutive Bundesliga title took another tumble at the weekend as a 2-2 draw at Freiburg saw table-topping Bayern Leverkusen open a substantial ten-point lead at the table’s summit. Underperforming manager Thomas Tuchel has no margin for error here, with his men looking to overhaul a 1-0 first-leg deficit, a feat they’ve historically struggled to achieve. Indeed, the Bavarians have suffered elimination from 12 of their last 15 Champions League knockout ties after losing the first leg on the road. On the bright side, they’ve won six consecutive home encounters against Serie A visitors, with four of those victories coming via multi-goal margins, suggesting they could secure progression throughout the regular 90 minutes. Nothing less would please the Allianz powerbrokers amidst a dreadful run of one win from Bayern’s last five competitive outings (D1, L3).

In the meantime, Lazio succumbed to a late 1-0 loss to fierce domestic rivals AC Milan in an ill-tempered contest at the Stadio Olimpico last weekend, which saw Maurizio Sarri’s side finish the game with eight men. That was hardly an ideal warm-up for the Italians’ trip to Germany, where they’ve never won a Champions League fixture (D2, L2). There’s a silver lining for ‘I Biancocelesti’ as they’ve sealed progression from 12 of their last 13 European two-legged ties after winning the first leg. If they can upset the apple cart and triumph at the Allianz Arena, Lazio would become the first club since Real Madrid in 2016/17 to win home and away against Bayern in a single Champions League season. Easier said than done, considering they’ve lost three of their last five matches on the road.