Both aiming to bounce back from chastening Champions League defeats on matchday three, Bayern Munich and Benfica lock horns at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday evening.
Vincent Kompany's men were humbled 4-1 by Barcelona in their most recent European affair, while the Portuguese giants went down 3-1 at home to Feyenoord last time out.
Match preview
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The mastermind behind Bayern's 8-2 obliteration of Barcelona during the 2019-20 Champions League, Hansi Flick found himself in the opposing dugout to his former sextuple-winning side on October 23, when the La Liga giants enjoyed a taste of belated revenge.
Former Leeds United winger Raphinha had his name up in lights with a terrific hat-trick against Vincent Kompany's team, who had briefly cancelled out the Brazilian's 54-second opener through a Harry Kane penalty before the Bavarian floodgates opened.
To rub salt into the Bayern wounds, Robert Lewandowski complemented Raphinha's hat-trick with a goal of his own against his erstwhile employers, helping to condemn the German giants to their second straight European loss after they came up short at Aston Villa.
The 9-2 annihilation of Dinamo Zagreb already feels a distant memory for Wednesday's hosts, who sit in an unremarkable 23rd place in the 36-team Champions League table, but the response from Kompany's side to that Barcelona beating has been nothing short of flawless.
Indeed, Bayern have scored 12 goals and conceded zero in three straight wins over VfL Bochum, Mainz 05 - in the DFB-Pokal - and Union Berlin, easing to a 3-0 success over the latter on Saturday to move three points clear of RB Leipzig at the top of the Bundesliga table.
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In strikingly similar fashion, upcoming visitors Benfica have also strung together a three-match winning sequence since a continental setback, as Bruno Lage's side were surprisingly outfought by Eredivisie giants Feyenoord at the Estadio da Luz two weeks ago.
Ayase Ueda and Antoni Milambo silenced the Eagles faithful before Kerem Akturkoglu cut the deficit in half from close range, only for Milambo to trigger Dutch delirium with his second of the match in injury time to end Benfica's perfect Champions League start.
Lage's men had previously got the better of Red Star Belgrade and Atletico Madrid - astonishingly thrashing the latter 4-0 - in the revamped 2024-25 Champions League, where their current 13th-placed ranking would comfortably earn them a playoff spot.
As mentioned, though, the Eagles have enjoyed a three-game victorious streak since then, thrashing Rio Ave 5-0, overcoming Santa Clara 3-0 in the Taca da Liga and edging out Farense 2-1 on Saturday to remain eight points behind Primeira Liga leaders Sporting Lisbon with a game in hand.
The imminent exit of Ruben Amorim to Manchester United may have Benfica fans feeling more optimistic about their side's chances of closing the gap to the runaway leaders, but the visitors may travel in hope rather than expectation this week; the Portuguese giants have never won any of their previous 13 Champions League/European Cup games in Germany.
Benfica have also crossed paths with Bayern 10 times without ever emerging triumphant, losing seven times and drawing with the German titans on three occasions, most recently suffering a 9-2 aggregate humiliation over two group-stage games in 2021-22.
Team News
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Three infirm Bayern players are currently in the care of the doctors, as Josip Stanisic (knee), Aleksandar Pavlovic (collarbone) and Hiroki Ito (foot) are all out of contention, but right-back Sacha Boey is now training again following a knee injury.
With two more goals and an assist under his belt from the weekend's victory over Union Berlin, Harry Kane has now had a direct hand in a staggering 25 goals in just 14 appearances this season, 17 of his own and five assists across all competitions.
Five of those strikes have come in Bayern's three Champions League matches so far, making the England captain the top scorer in the current edition, and he should spearhead an unchanged lineup on Wednesday.
As for Benfica, Lage will be unable to call upon any of Gianluca Prestianni (ankle), Leandro Barreiro (thigh) or Tiago Gouveia (shoulder), while right-back Alexander Bah was withdrawn at half time in the victory over Farense and will also miss this one.
Lage name-checked three players who could step in for Bah in his pre-game press conference, including Manchester City-owned Issa Kabore, but Tomas Araujo could move across instead as the much-coveted Antonio Silva returns to partner Nicolas Otamendi.
Akturkoglu's consolation effort against Feyenoord means that the Turkish wing wizard has scored in each of his first three Champions League appearances for Feyenoord; the only player to net in each of their first four UCL/European Cup matches for a Portuguese club was ex-Porto star Ze Carlos back in the 1992-93 edition.
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Guerreiro, Kim, Upamecano, Davies; Kimmich, Palhinha; Olise, Musiala, Coman; Kane
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Trubin; Araujo, Otamendi, Silva, Carreras; Kokcu, Florentino, Aursnes; Di Maria, Pavlidis, Akturkoglu
We say: Bayern Munich 3-1 Benfica
Benfica have let in at least two goals in each of their last five Champions League games with Bayern Munich, who have been in free-scoring mode since being left battered and bruised by Barcelona.
Expect that trend to continue at the Allianz Arena, where Kompany's men should not emerge unscathed on the defensive front but will surely possess too much firepower for Lage's troops.
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Ben Knapton
