Bayern Munich’s attempt to defend the title starts here at the crucial stage. They will be taking on Lazio on the road. Unfortunately, they have not been in their best performance after winning FIFA Club World Cup with one draw and defeat plus a number of key players injured worsen the situation for Die Roeten for their continental campaign. Lazio, on the other hand, is in their fairly positive trend. It will be an exciting clash in Olympico Roma.
The teams’ previous matches
Biancoceleste secured a narrow 1-0 win over Sampdoria on the weekend to bounce back from the inevitable loss against Inter Milan in the previous outing. A single goal from the former Liverpool man, Luis Alberto made the difference in the game.
Meanwhile, Manuel Neuer and Co were stunned by Frankfurt once again as they stumbled and lost 1-2 on the road. Daichi Kamada and the former Napoli man Amin Younes already broke the deadlock at the first half before Robert Lewandowski scored a consolation goal. It was their second Bundesliga defeat this season.
Simone Inzaghi is opting for 3-5-2 formation with Ciro Immobile and Joaquin Correa upfront and supported by Luis Alberto, Sergej-Milenkovic Savic, Lucas Leiva, Adam Marusic and Patric in the midfield. The figures on the sideline due to their injury are Luiz Felipe, Stefanu Radu, Andreas Perreira and Thomas Strakosha.
His counterpart, Hans Flick, is having a headache to find the proper replacement for Thomas Muller, the seemingly key man in his system. Muller is ruled out due to testing positive covid-19 alongside Benjamin Pavard. What’s worse, the names in their injury table have just added up with Douglas Costa, Serge Gnarby, Corentin Tolisso and Niklas Sule plus Alexander Nuble missing out this fixture. Thus, in Flick’s regular 4-2-3-1, Leon Goretzka is the most possible one to get a nod to take over Muller’s role behind Lewandowski while Leroy Sane and Kingsley Coman or Jamal Musiala could operate on both flanks.
Ciro Immobile is surely the main scorer in Simone Inzaghi’s squad with nineteen goals and four assists in UCL and Serie A. Some other key men to focus on are the Serbia international Sergej Milenkovic-Savic and Luis Alberto.
Robert Lewandowski is still the top scorer of the team with 29 goals already in Bundesliga and Champions League plus six assists. Some other notable names to watch here are the second top assist provider, Joshua Kimmich contributing ten assists and two goals so far and the former Manchester City man, Leroy Sane with six goals and seven assists in both competitions.
Lazio vs Bayern Prediction
This should be a perfect moment for Immobile and Co to seal a win for safety before the second leg in German soil, which could be played elsewhere if the travel restriction is still imposed by the German government. Not to mention the potential crisis in Die Roeten since being unable to win after flying back from Qatar. However, Hans Flick’s men mentality is still noteworthy here so a draw seems the more reasonable result.
Bayern Munich is the slight favourite here. Their odds to win are at 9/11. Lazio’s win market is at 19/5 while the draw result is at the value of 16/5.
