Chelsea vs Bayern Munich
Champions League
Date: Tuesday, 25 February 2020
Kick-off at 20:00 UK / 21:00 CET
Venue: Stamford Bridge (London).
Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard has confirmed that N'golo Kante and Christian Pulisic (the kidnappers) will be absent for the visit of Bayern Munich to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night for the last-16 first leg tie with the Bundesliga club.
Hudson-Odoi has long been linked with a move to Bayern until he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in April 2019. He has recently been sidelined with a hamstring problem.
"(Christian) Pulisic out, Hudson-Odoi out, (N'golo) Kante out," said Lampard in the pre-match press conference.
"Callum came out, he was not far but not this game."
Meanwhile, there was better news for Chelsea with Pedro and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are both available.
"Pedro is back in contention after missing Saturday with a small problem," said Lampard. "Ruben is fit, he is in the squad."
Bayern defender Niklas Sule ruled out with a knee injury, while Ivan Perisic is absent with an ankle problem.
However, there is a push for the Bundesliga title with Javi Martinez returned to practice after missing six games because of a torn muscle.
Key Statistics
Last Chelsea and Bayern Munich's Champions League meeting was the final in 2012, which the West London club won 4-3 on penalties (1-1 a.e.t.) at the Allianz Arena.
Four previous games in all competitions between Chelsea and Bayern Munich have produced 17 goals, an average of 4.25 per game.
Under the current format, Chelsea have reached the Champions League knockout stage 14 times in 17 seasons since 2003-04 - only Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich can boast more appearances KO during that time. However, the Blues have not made it past the round of 16 since 2013-14.
Bayern Munich have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for 12 consecutive seasons - only Real Madrid (23) and Barcelona (16) are in the long term. They have made it past the round of 16 in seven of the eight last campaign, the only exception came last season when they were eliminated by Liverpool.
Chelsea have only won one of their last six Champions League matches at Stamford Bridge (D4 L1), 2-1 victory against Lille last December.
Prediction
Chelsea 1-3 Bayern Munich
Chelsea came into the game on the back of an impressive 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur. However, the host has not been in top form lately and are likely to find the going tough against Bayern Munich team that has been firing on all weapons under Hansi Flick.
Both the defense has shown a vulnerability, which means there will be opportunities offered on Tuesday. However, Chelsea have often struggled to finish off the team this term, which may put them at a disadvantage going against clinical Bayern attack consisting of in-form Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller and Kingsley Coman.
And therefore, we at Hard Tackle is tipped champions Germany to register another handsome victory on their trip to London and take a step closer to the Champions League quarter-finals.
