Aston Villa will play their first home game in Europe’s elite competition since 1983 against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.
Villa started their Champions League campaign with a confident 0-3 win over Young Boys, while Bayern had plenty of fun with Dinamo Zagreb, crushing their opponents 9-2.
Villa come into the match sitting fifth in the Premier League, having drawn 2-2 away to division newcomers Ipswich last weekend with Unai Emery’s side drawing 2-2.
“This will be only the second meeting between Villa and Bayern since the 1982 European Cup final, when the Villans won 1-0.
– Bayern have lost only one of their last 10 Champions League matches against English teams (7 wins, 2 draws) – 3:0 to Manchester City in the quarter finals of the 2022/23 season.
– During his coaching career, Emery won Bayern twice in the Champions League – 3:0 with PSG in September 2017 and 1:0 with Villarreal in April 2022.
– Only Jose Mourinho (Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid) managed to defeat Bayern three times with three different teams in the Champions League.
– Bayern have not won any of the last three away matches in the Champions League (1 draw, 2 defeats).
– Emery has lost only three of his last 20 Champions League matches outside the knockout stages (13 wins, 4 draws).
– Bayern had 19 shots on target against Dinamo Zagreb in the first round, and this is a record for a Champions League match.
– In his six career appearances at Villa Park, Bayern striker Harry Kane has scored five goals and provided two assists.
Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara remain in the Villa infirmary. Matty Cash has returned to training after five weeks out with a hamstring injury but will not feature in this match.
Champions League. 2nd round
Aston Villa (England) – Bayern Munich (Germany)
Birmingham. Stadium “Villa Park”. 22:00 Online broadcast Forecast
