Portuguese teams have always been welcome guests in Munich. In 12 previous home encounters against sides from the land of the current European champions, Bayern have won ten and drawn two. Benfica have been the visitors in four of those and Bayern have emerged victorious in every one, and FCB will be looking to maintain that perfect record when the Lisbon outfit visit the Bavarian state capital again on Tuesday. Fill the time before kick-off with some more facts and stats from fcbayern.com.
Unbeaten against Benfica
Overall, the two European giants have crossed swords on nine occasions, with Bayern winning six and the points being shared on three occasions. The record German champions have only conceded six goals in those nine matches, scoring 21. When looking at teams who Bayern have played at least nine times in European competition, their win percentage against Benfica (67%) is higher than it is against any other club. Furthermore, the Reds have only lost two of their 27 games against Portuguese teams in general (16 wins, nine draws).
Away-day struggles
Benfica have not had much success in their recent away outings in the Champions League. Excluding qualifiers, they have lost five of their last six matches on their travels, with the exception being their 3-2 victory at AEK Athens on Matchday 2 this season. The Eagles also conceded 16 goals across those six games, failing to score in all five losses.
Bayern in good position
With ten points from four matches, Bayern have one foot in the last 16. The Reds have had nine points at this stage of the competition in each of the last three years, while the last time they were unbeaten after four group games was in the 2014/15 campaign. One reason for their strong showing this season has been their solid defence – Bayern and Bundesliga rivals Schalke 04 boast the joint-best defensive record in the Champions League having conceded one goal each. The club’s record in a UCL group stage is the two goals they conceded during the 2001/02 campaign.
Effective from set-pieces
Four of Bayern’s last five goals in the Champions League have come from dead-ball situations – two from corners plus one each from a free-kick and a penalty. Over half (57%) of their goals in Europe’s premier club competition this season have originated from set-pieces, compared to just 8% last season.
Italian refereeing team
An Italian team will officiate Tuesday’s match, led by Daniele Orsato. It will be the 43-year-old’s 26th match in the competition, and the majority of the Bayern players will know him from their 2-1 win over Sevilla in the quarter-final first leg last season.
Topics of this article