Bayern Munich vs Viktoria Plzen

Bayern Munich and Viktoria Plzen are set to trade tackles at the Allianz Arena in contrasting circumstances on matchday three of Champions League Group C.

Top of this so-called ‘group of death’ after the opening two rounds, Bayern Munich started the competition with a 2-0 away win over Inter Milan before taking down Barcelona by the exact same score last time out. After going winless in four Bundesliga matches (D3, L1) for the first time since 2002, the ‘Bavarians’ thrashed fellow domestic rivals Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 at the weekend to get back to winning ways ahead of this fixture. Another success here would see the perennial Bundesliga champions win their opening three Champions League group games for the fourth season running. You’d expect nothing less from Julian Nagelsmann’s men, who haven’t lost a single Champions League group outing on home turf since 2013/14. They have since racked up a stellar 24 wins from 25 such contests (D1).

On the other hand, Group C minnows Viktoria Plzen followed a 5-1 thumping to Barcelona at the Spotify Camp Nou with a 2-0 home defeat to Inter, suggesting another multi-goal margin failure is on the cards. In addition to conceding seven goals in the opening two Champions League rounds this season, the Czech Republic champions have only kept one clean sheet in their 20 previous matches in the competition! Adding to Michal Bilek’s sizeable list of concerns, his men have suffered eight defeats in their ten Champions League fixtures on hostile turf (W2), conceding a staggering 25 goals across their last seven continental travels (W1, L6). Topically, the visitors haven’t registered a shutout in three consecutive away games preceding this trip.