Preview: Red Bull Salzburg vs. Bayern Munich – prediction, team news, lineups

German giants Bayern Munich will travel to Austria for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday night.

Die Roten Bullen head into the knockout rounds as huge underdogs but they can be encouraged by Bayern’s surprise Bundesliga defeat to VfL Bochum last weekend.

Match preview

Red Bull Salzburg became the first Austrian side in Champions League history to reach the knockout rounds after finishing second in Group D with 10 points from their six matches, just one point behind group winners Lille.Information Guide Nigeria

Accumulating seven points from their opening three games put Die Roten Bullen in a strong position to qualify, before back-to-back defeats against Wolfsburg and Lille left their last-16 hopes hanging in the balance.

Matthias Jaissle’s men required at least a point against Sevilla in their final group fixture to advance, but they managed to secure all three thanks to a second-half strike from Noah Okafor, which sparked wild celebrations from the Salzburg camp.

At just 33 years of age, Jaissle deserves a lot of credit for steering his Salzburg side into the last 16, in tandem with extending their lead at the top of the Austrian Bundesliga to 14 points, with a ninth successive top-flight crown now theirs to lose.

Salzburg, who have won only one of their last six games against German opposition, now face the daunting task of going up against one of the tournament favourites in the form of Bayern Munich.

Die Roten Bullen will be familiar with the six-time European champions, after locking horns in last season’s group stage. They did, however, suffered defeat on both occasions and conceded nine goals in the process.

Wednesday’s Champions League encounter will be the fourth time Bayern Munich face an Austrian team in the knockout stages of a European competition. In each of their last three two-legged ties, they have progressed to the next round, beating Rapid Wien in the 1966-67 Cup Winners’ Cup and Austria Wien in successive European Cup campaigns in 1985-86 and 1986-87.

However, Bayern failed to win any of their three away games against their Austrian counterparts, and relied on their home form to get them over the line. Such a statistic will give Salzburg confidence, as they have a 100% home record in this season’s competition, beating Lille, Wolfsburg, and Sevilla.

Having said that, Bayern currently boast the longest unbeaten run away from home in the history of the European Cup/Champions League, as they have not lost any of their last 21 matches on the road, and the Bavarians will be strongly favoured to extend this impressive run in midweek.

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Red Bull Salzburg Champions League form:
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Red Bull Salzburg form (all competitions):
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Bayern Munich Champions League form:
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Bayern Munich form (all competitions):
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Salzburg will be without forward Benjamin Sesko due to a muscle injury and the teenager joins Zlatko Junuzovic (heel), Albert Vallci (Achilles), Bryan Okoh, Bernardo, Sekou Koita, and Ousmane Diakite (all knee) on the treatment table.

Nicolas Capaldo started in last Friday’s 2-1 league win over Rapid Wien, but having made all five of his Champions League appearances as a substitute this season, the Argentine could be replaced by Nicolas Seiwald, who is likely to join Mohamed Camara and Luka Sucic in centre-midfield.

USA international Brenden Aaronson is expected to continue in an advanced midfield role in behind strikers Karim Adeyemi and Okafor, who have scored 30 goals between them across all competitions this term.

As for Bayern Munich, they will be without first-choice goalkeeper Manuel Neuer for the next three to five weeks after he underwent knee surgery earlier this month, so Sven Ulreich is set to retain his place between the sticks.

According to the recent report from sportsmole.cu, Nagelsmann has revealed that Alphonso Davies is on the road to recovery from myocarditis, but the Canadian remains sidelined, while Leon Goretzka (knee) and Jamal Musiala (COVID-19) are also ruled out.

The German boss named an attacking lineup in the defeat against Bochum which included Thomas Muller, Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman, and Leroy Sane; however, one of the latter three could drop out for Corentin Tolisso, who may start in a deeper midfield role alongside Joshua Kimmich.

Full-backs Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez are set to retain their places in the first XI, as are centre-backs Niklas Sule and Dayot Upamecano, while talisman Robert Lewandowski – who has scored 37 goals in just 30 games across all competitions this season, including nine in six Champions League starts – will lead the line-up front.

Red Bull Salzburg possible starting lineup:
Kohn; Kristensen, Onguene, Wober, Ulmer; Sucic, Camara, Siewald; Aaronson; Adeyemi, Okafor

Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Ulreich; Pavard, Sule, Upamecano, Hernandez; Kimmich, Tolisso; Gnabry, Muller, Sane; Lewandowski

Prediction: Red Bull Salzburg 1-3 Bayern MunichJAMB Result

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