Bayern Munich

UEFA Champions League – Round of 16

Bayern Munich V Fiorentina

Tuesday, 16^th February – 19:45 GMT

Bayern Munich

Match Odds: 1.53 (8/15) Boylesports

Recommended Bet: Franck Ribery FGS – 8/1 Ladbrokes 

Bayern Munich, under the guidance of Louis Van Gaal as Munich manager, will be aiming to end their ten year baron run without a European trophy when they entertain Fiorentina in Germany for the first leg of what is a favourable draw for the Germans. Die Bayern, one of their many nicknames back home, are going great guns in the Bundesliga – not losing in fifteen games – and will hope their sensational run of form whilst in domestic action can be the platform for a successful run in Europe’s most prestigious club competition, which will hopefully be complimented by at least a final appearance come May.  

Bayern have often not lived up to expectations in recent Champions League campaigns, not even participating in last seasons tournament while they were knocked out at just the group stage the season before. In all fairness, Bayern have been far from convincing in this seasons Champions League and barely scraped through their Group consisting of Juventus, Bordeaux & Maccabi Haifa. Despite losing twice to French champions Bordeaux, Bayern Munich eventually pipped Juventus to the post by thrashing the Italian in Italy 1-4, by far and away their best result of the campaign and one which was perhaps a signal of intent that Bayern Munich are beginning to climb up the gears as the season hots up.

Back in league action, Bayern Munich have been unstoppable and are enjoying a fifteen match spell without losing. Moreover, to add to their tonne of positive momentum heading into this opening leg, the Munich side have won their last nine games after victory at home to Borrusia Dortmund at the weekend, and are on the verge of equalling a ten match winning streak record in Germany previouslt set by Monchengladbach.

Finally, after long last, Bayern are playing with confidence, with some attacking vigour, and are showing signs that the strong Bayern of old is slowly returning to it’s peak. Their superb league run has coincided with Franck Ribery’s return to fitness and he was instrumental in Bayern’s comeback victory at the weekend. He will undoubtedly be their biggest dangerman on the night, along with former Chelsea winger and Dutch international Arjen Robben. The two occupy either side of the wings and both are a damn nuisance to keep quiet. The pair possess bags of pace and skill and are so hard to pick up when Bayern do stretch their legs on the counter. They not only supply the forward paring of Muller and Klose with ample crosses and through balls, but they also have the ability to strike themselves from just about anywhere on the pitch.

Bayern Munich are actually shaping up as a decent Each-Way bet for the tournament after their recent surge of results back home and the with the form of their key players at the moment. They’ve been scoring plenty of goals, often at will, scoring 24 goals in their last 7 games, and even the leanest of defences will struggle to keep Bayern at bay it would seem. However, it’s worth remembering that Bayern haven’t been much of a force in this seasons competition, already falling to defeat on two occasions, both of which come against Bordeaux – Group A winners. They also only managed just one win from their three home games in the group stage – but will their superb run of form back home inspire them to bigger and better performances in the Champions League starting with a vital win in the first leg at the Allianz Arena?

Fiorentina

Match Odds: 7.50 (13/2) Coral

Recommend Bet: To Score NO Goals – 2.10 SkyBet

Fiorentina, an Italian team without any real previous Champions League success, go in search of their first, one which would be a shock, this season after bypassing what appeared to be a very tricky Group E consisting of Lyon, Liverpool & Debrecen. After fending off the pursuit from Liverpool for second place, Fiorentina gave their Champions League credentials a big boost, but now the pressure is on and they will come up against one of Europe’s in form sides on Wednesday night in Germany’s Bayern Munich – A team unbeaten back home in fifteen games. 

On paper, Fiorentina aren’t the strongest of teams and it’s an achievement in itself that they’ve gotten this far. They had to fend off a beleaguered challenge from Liverpool for the second qualifying spot, even beating the 2005 Champions twice during the group stage of the competition just to get to this stage. However, their squad does look very basic and bland, with just a few individuals screaming out at us as potential key players. In the absence of Mutu up front, Gilardino will be Viola’s main goal threat, which isn’t a major drop down as the Italian forward is a proper old fashioned goal poacher and will grab you a goal if given half-a-chance. However, it’s in the creative department where the alarm bells are ringing and the pressure to create and supply Gilardino looks to be on Jovetic, Fiorentina’s young starlet, whom has already made a name for himself in the tournament after sticking two past Liverpool in Florence. However, while he has been prone to some magic displays on occasions, Jovetic is still just 20 years-old and unproven under this type of limelight.

Viola’s hopes of diving head first into this first leg with a positive attitude was dented by Sampdoria after a 2-0 defeat away from their native home of Florence at the weekend. In fact, Fiorentina are in drastic form at current and haven’t experienced that winning feeling since 10^th January when they Bari 2-1 at home. Since, however, Viola have fallen to four defeats in five. Moreover, their away form is a whole lot worse, with Fiorentina winning just one of their last six away encounters in Serie A, losing four of them. The absence of Adrian Mutu is perhaps why their form has dropped so badly within such a short space of time, but they will have to cope without him once again as the Romanian is unavailable once again for this clash.

The one thing Fiorentina will need, and it’s something they’ve failed to do in each of their away games in the competition thus far, is keep it tight at the back. In all three of their away group encounters Fiorentina conceded at least one goal, which is in stark contrast to the two clean sheets in three they kept at home, with both of those coming against the strongest teams in their group. However, Viola have even been struggling in defence in Serie A, against far inferior opposition then their Wednesday night opponents, and have gone eight games without keeping a shut-out in the league. The team sporting their famous purple shirts are a tad lost at the moment, with form not on their side, and with their defence currently at sixes-and-sevens, surely Fiorentina are a team best left well alone for the time being.

Match Verdict: Bayern Munich to WIN – 1.53 Boylesports

The German side look immensely strong on paper, both in regards to their fit and available players and their form back home in domestic action. They’ve not lost in fifteen games in the German Bundesliga and have notched up nine straight victories. Of course, we mustn’t completely disregard some of their woeful displays in the competition thus far, two extremely bad ones coming against Bordeaux, but Fiorentina are a team currently on the rocks, struggling for form and low on confidence, and if Bayern are to harbour serious claims for the Champions League crown then they simply have to beat Fiorentina with authority. There are goals in this for Bayern, but whether they disappoint us once again is another question, one certainly open to debate.

Match Odds:

Bayern Munich – 1.53 Boylesports

Draw – 3.00 Bet365

Fiorentina – 7.50 Coral

To Qualify:

Bayern Munich – 1.50 PaddyPower

Fiorentina – 2.80 bWin

Football-Betting.co.uk Value Tip: Bayern Munich/Bayern Munich (HT/FT Betting) – 2.38 BlueSquare

Juventus V Bayern Munich

Tuesday 8^th December – 19:45 GMT

Group A

When the draw for the groups was made, Bayern Munich and Juventus shaped up as the possible frontrunners in Group A with perhaps Bordeuax a dangerous outsider. Well, the outsider certainly prevailed, on more than one occasion, and it is the French outfit who are the only team in the group to have secured their spot in the last sixteen, in their wake leaving both Juventus and Bayern to fight it out for the one remaining qualifying spot. Also, Bordeaux were so dominant over the pair that they didn’t fall to a single defeat along the way and will end the group stages at Group A winners, regardless of what happens elsewhere in Turin.

As far as these two former giants of European football go, both require a result over one another to progress into the next stage of the competition, although it’s Bayern Munich who have their work cut out. Juventus will not only have the advantage of playing on home soil but they’ll also be confident of progressing simply because they only need a solitary point to be sure of a last sixteen berth. Bayern, however, must win in Turin to earn themselves an undeserved place in the knock-out phase of the competition.

Juventus

Group A Position: 2^nd

Group A Form: DDWWL

Predicament: Only need 1 point to progress

After making a bright start in the competition, winning two of their opening four fixtures, as well as maintaining an unbeaten run along the way, Juve’s fortunes soon turned slightly sour after suffering defeat at the hands of Bordeaux, a team they could only manage a 1-1 draw with on Match Day 1, a result which, in heince sight, has cost them early progression. However, the show must go on as they say and Juventus don’t even need to put on a fabulous display for the home fans as a draw is all they need to bypass what has been a very tricky group.

In the Champions League thus far, Juventus’ only win came in a narrow 1-0 victory over rock-bottom, Maccabi Haifa. The fact that it was only 1-0 is a big negative in itself as many pundits, including ourselves, would have expected a much bigger margin of victory. Nevertheless, it was three points and they could make it two wins from two at home in the competition with a win over Bayern Munich, a team whose only away success came against the same outfit, Maccabi Haifa (0-3), but lost on their previous away outing in Bordeaux, losing 2-1. Also, the morale within the Juventus camp should have gone up a few notches after their 2-1 victory over the reigning Italian champions – Inter Milan, on Saturday.

On Saturday, Juventus put an end to an unbeaten run of seven games for Juventus and closed the gap on them to just five points. The players will now be very confident that they can now compete on every quarter, and pleased that their league campaign is well and truly back on track. However, the cherry on what has been a very good week for them would be progression from Group A. All Juventus need is a point and what all Italian sides are good at is producing dull, low-scoring games when it really matters. However, Juventus have only kept two home clean sheets back home in eight home outings in Serie A, which does leave them exposed to what is still a dangerous Bayern offensive.

Bayern Munich

Group A Position: 3^rd

Group A Form: WDLLW

Predicament: Must WIN to progress

Bayern Munich have been a model for consistency in recent Champions League’s but this hasn’t been the case this season, and the German powerhouse could find themselves dumped into the Europa League if they don’t obtain all three points in Turin. Bayern were held to a goalless draw when the pair met in Munich on Match Day and whereas that result would see their match day rivals sail through, on the same token it would also see Bayern exit the competition.

The omens ahead of their trip to Turn aren’t great. On their previous two visits to Turin, Bayern Munich have lost on both occasions, while, somewhat ironically, the under-fire Bayern manager, Louis Van Gaal, lost to Juventus in a final back in his playing days. However, losing in the final then may have been one of the worst moments in his career but an early exit from the competition could leave him begging for his job. Bayern have not only been well below par in this competition but they’ve also been under-performing back in domestic action, leaving the Bayern Munich disgruntled at yet another manager.

The two defeats home and away to Bordeaux is what has cost Bayern dearly and what could be the death of them in this competition. However, after battling hard on Match Day 5 to record a nervy 1-0 victory over Maccabi Haifa, Bayern do still their own fate in their hands but know only a win will do if they want to remain with Europe’s elite.

However, Bayern’s league form is looking far more rosier now after a run of eight games without defeating, four wins and four draws, while Bayern are unbeaten in three away outings in the Bundesliga, albeit against pretty poor opposition. However, a big negative is that Bayern away record while in league action is ordinary (3-2-2), and with Bayern only managing to win just under half of their away games this season, that average won’t do if they want to progress on Tuesday night. They did, however, win on their very last away outing, a 3-0 win in Hannover, whilst they won again over the weekend, a 2-1 victory at home to Borussia Monchengladbach, so perhaps matters are taking a turn for the better.

Match Verdict:- Draw – 3.40 SkyBet

A tight, nervy game is on the cards here and we fancy this it to pitier out into a draw. It’s down to Bayern Munich, the side that desperately have to win, to make this an entertaining affair. Juventus will probably play in a cautious manner, not throwing a large number of bodies forward unless absolutely necessary, while the pressure is firmly on Bayern to ask all the questions. Gut instinct mixed with Bayern’s dreadful performance in the Champions League thus far says an early opener for Bayern Munich which will then later be cancelled out at the other end with a Juventus equaliser. A 1-1 draw tickles our fancy.

Match Odds:

Juventus – 2.30 VCbet

Draw – 3.40 SkyBet

Bayern Munich – 3.40 SkyBet

Football-Betting.co.uk Value Tip: 1-1 Correct Score – 6.50 Bet365