Champions League: Bavaria to Host Winterfest With the Euro Pressure Off

Champions League: Bavaria to Host Winterfest With the Euro Pressure Off

Bayern Munich vs Tottenham Hotspur

They are two of the teams tipped to challenge for this season’s Champions League.

At their best they both can beat any opponent and have set their sights on and dream of Euro glory.

They also possess arguably the two most prolific frontmen in Europe.

This may be a dead-rubber of a tie as the group stages are completed but pride is at stake.

Talking Points

That’s for a variety of reasons.

Both sides come into this on the back of contrasting results.

Spurs turned on the style in the top fight with a 5-0 hammering of Burnley which included a contender for goal of the season.

Bayern Munich slipped to a last-gasp defeat to leaders Borussia Monchengladbach in a match they should have been out of sight in before being pegged back.

While bouncing back with success may be on Bayern’s mind, Spurs will want to show they are much better than the team which collapsed when they last locked swords.

That Serge Gnabry-inspired performance produced one of the Champions League news shocks of this or any other season.

One of their scorers that night was, unsurprisingly, Robert Lewandowski who, last time out in Europe, scored the quickest quadruple in Champions League history and has more Bundesliga goals so far this term than some clubs.

The Bayern Munich striker took 14 minutes and 31 seconds to score four goals against Red Star Belgrade.

The Poland international scored in 13 consecutive matches in all competitions for the German champions from August to October and has 16 goals in his last 13 appearances. He is also the top scorer in Europe’s top five leagues.

While he may figure, it seems his compatriot on the other side, Harry Kane, will not.

That’s because new Spurs boss Jose Mourinho has already indicated he will leave some of his big names at home.

However, it provides an opportunity for him to give players such as Troy Parrott, Juan Foyth, Kyle Walker-Peters, Oliver Skipp, Ryan Sessegnon and Giovani Lo Celso a good run-out.

If Erik Lamela is back from injury and ready for some minutes, it’s a good way to ease him back into action as well.

As they arrive in Bavaria after a fairly troubled first half of 2019/2020, Spurs should not forget their own qualities which helped them reach last season’s Champions League final, seeing off the likes of Manchester City, Ajax and Bayern’s arch-rivals Dortmund along the way.

Bayern, meanwhile, should be written off at their peril.

They may currently be seven points off the pace in the Bundesliga but any side with the likes of Philippe Coutinho, Lewandowski, Ivan Perisic, Manuel Neuer and Lucas Hernandez is a talented one.

This should be an enjoyable evening.

History

This will be the sixth meeting between the clubs and Bayern have an advantage with three triumphs compared to Spurs’ solitary success and one draw that happened in their very first meeting.

Indeed, their first four games were crammed into 15 months in the early 1980s.

In the 1982/83 European Cup Winners’ Cup, the two were paired together in only the second round and Steve Archibald netted for Spurs in a first leg 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.

Bayern were far too strong in the second leg, however, emerging 4-1 winners (5-2 on aggregate).

The following season, little over 12 months later, they were drawn against each other in the third round of the UEFA Cup.

The Germans won the first leg 1-0 at home before Archibald and Mark Falco goals overturned the deficit in the second leg.

Spurs, famously, went onto win the tournament that season, defeating Anderlecht on penalties.

Their meeting two months ago will always be remembered – for good or bad memories – depending on who you support as Spurs ended up being demolished by brutal Bayern in what had been a close contest for 80 minutes.

Betting Tip

Total Goal 2-3 @ 2.28

The SBOBET Champions League betting odds lean heavily towards the hosts. They are priced 1X2 @ 1.47 and with Asian Handicap odds -1.00 @ 1.77 and -1.25 @ 2.02.

In contrast, Spurs are outsiders when you look at 1X2 @ 5.80 and +1.00 @ 2.19.

The draw is available @ 4.60.

Given both clubs have already reached the last 16, and that Bayern have long since sealed top spot in Group B, this contest could see both managers rest key players ahead of busy domestic duties.

Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.

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