2018/19 UEFA Champions League
Liverpool vs Bayern Munich
Round of 16 – 1
st leg:
Tuesday, February 19
th
Kick-off expected at 22:00 (10pm) CAT
Last season’s beaten UEFA Champions League finalists
Liverpool will have their buoyant Anfield crowd behind them when they host German giants Bayern Munich in the first-leg of their eagerly anticipated round of 16 tie.
LIVERPOOL VS BAYERN MUNICH – ANFIELD, LIVERPOOL
Just this week Bayern President Uli Hoeness admitted that they nearly hired Jurgen Klopp (now at the helm of Liverpool) after he stepped down from his role as head coach at Mainz in 2008. The rest is history however as the enigmatic German went on to make his mark across the country with Borussia Dortmund, winning two Bundesliga crowns, before losing the UEFA Champions League final to Bayern Munich at Wembley in 2013.
For all the symbolism that this fixture represents, with Klopp now managing in England and coming off the back of that bitterly agonising defeat to Real Madrid in Kiev back in May, there will be no doubt that come Tuesday, all the raw emotion that is such a fervent feature of the man on the touchline will be put to one side because at the end of the day there is the simple matter of a football match to be settled.
Liverpool currently trail defending champions Manchester City on goal difference in the race for the Premier League title albeit having played one match fewer than the Citizens. The Reds are unbeaten in their last five matches in the division since being dumped out of the FA Cup by Wolves last month.
Golden Boot winner in 2017/18 Mohamed Salah was on target for the Merseysiders as they eased passed Bournemouth 3-0 last time to end a sequence of back-to-back draws. That was the Egyptian’s 17
th league goal of the current campaign, taking him level with City’s Sergio Aguero.
Liverpool recent results:
09/02/2019 – Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth
04/02/2019 – West Ham 1-1 Liverpool
30/01/2019 – Liverpool 1-1 Leicester City
19/01/2019 – Liverpool 4-3 Crystal Palace
Bayern Munich had to twice come from behind to beat Augsburg 3-2 on Friday evening, courtesy of a first-half brace from Kingsley Coman. That was the Bavarians third win in-a-row in all competitions as Nico Kovac’s side continue to cut the gap between themselves and Borussia Dortmund in the quest for the Bundesliga crown.
They have netted at least three times in six of their last seven outings and have scored a whopping 33 goals across their last 12 matches in all competitions since the start of December. Robert Lewandowski is the sides leading marksman with 13 goals and 7 assists to his name this season.
Bayern Munich recent results:
15/02/2019 – Augsburg 2-3 Bayern
09/02/2019 – Bayern 3-1 Schalke
06/02/2019 – Hertha 2-3 Bayern (Cup)
02/02/2019 – Leverkusen 3-1 Bayern
Liverpool could welcome back Xherdan Shaqiri for Tuesday nights clash after the midfielder missed the Reds win over the Cherries with an abdominal injury. Shaqiri spent a fruitful two-and-a-half-year spell in Germany, winning the treble with Bayern in 2013 before moving on to Inter Milan in the January of 2015. He lasted just six months there before he was shipped on to Stoke City that summer where he has graced the Premier League with his dazzling displays ever since until his transfer to Jurgen Klopp’s team following the Potters relegation in 2018.
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The duo are yet to face-off in a competitive fixture having played each other in a pre-season friendly back in 2017. Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Daniel Sturridge were all on the scoresheet as Liverpool ran away 3-0 winners against a full-strength side in the semi-final of Bayern’s very own Audi Cup, played at the Allianz Arena.
Liverpool vs Bayern Munich head-to-head:
01/08/2017 – Bayern 0-3 Liverpool
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