Premiere in the Allianz Arena
Mon | 27/01/25 | 13:27
The facts ahead of the Champions League match between FC Bayern and Slovan Bratislava
Curtain up! Wednesday evening (21:00 CET) marks a premiere on the biggest stage in European football. For the first time ever, FC Bayern and Slovan Bratislava will face off in a competitive match. While the Slovakian record champions have already been knocked out of the Champions League, the men from Munich still have a theoretical chance of avoiding the play-offs and progressing directly to the knockout stage on the final matchday of the league phase. To achieve this, three points are a must. Find out which strengths will encourage coach Vincent Kompany's team ahead of the showdown at the Allianz Arena and which record FCB are on the verge of breaking in our key facts and stats on the game.
Bayern with excellent home form
This season, Jamal Musiala and Co. have already celebrated wins in the CL home matches against Dinamo Zagreb, Benfica and Paris St Germain.
The Allianz Arena is FC Bayern's greatest asset. The Munich side are unbeaten in the group stage or league phase of the Champions League in 33 home games. That is the joint-longest unbeaten run in the history of the competition: between November 2009 and November 2020, Barcelona recorded the same number of unbeaten home matches. So on Wednesday, the German record champions have the opportunity to become the sole record holders.
Jamal Musiala's impressive home run
Incidentally, one FCB player has never lost a CL home game: Jamal Musiala has won 17 of his 20 matches in Europe's premier club competition in front of his own fans (three draws). Only John O'Shea (32), Rodri (27) and Carlos Tevez (23) have played more home games in the competition without ever losing. And our artistic dribbler has been very hungry for goals at the Allianz Arena of late: in his last nine appearances in front of a home crowd in the Champions League group stage/league phase, he's been directly involved in seven goals (two goals, five assists).
FCB's set-pieces a real weapon
Minjae Kim headed Bayern to victory against Paris St Germain at the end of November. The South Korean's goal was one of five the Reds have scored from set pieces in the current CL campaign. | © FC Bayern
Bayern's set-piece prowess will hopefully come into play again in front of a home crowd. In the current Champions League campaign, Kompany's side have scored almost half of their 11 goals at home from set-pieces, with five of them coming from corners, free-kicks or penalties. Only three times in this competition have the Bavarians scored more goals from set-pieces in front of their own fans: in the 2018/19 season, when five out of nine came from dead-ball situations.
Two opponents from Slovakia
Thanks to a hat-trick from Olaf Thon, Bayern booked their place in the third round of the UEFA Cup against Dunajska Streda in the 1988/89 season. | © Imago
FC Bayern have previously only faced two opponents from Slovakia: In the first round of the 1966/67 European Cup Winners' Cup, FCB were drawn against Tatran Presov. After a 1-1 away draw, the Reds won 3-2 at home thanks to a brace from Gerd Müller. The outcome was clearer in the second round of the 1988/89 UEFA Cup: Coach Jupp Heynckes' side beat Dunajska Streda 3-1 at the Olympiastadion. Olaf Thon and Co. also had the upper hand in the second leg in what was then Czechoslovakia (2-0) - the former midfielder scored a total of three goals against Streda.
Almost 37 years on, FCB face their next Slovakian opponents - on Wednesday, the men from Munich will be looking for a win against Bratislava. Pack ma's!
FC Bayern warmed up for the CL clash with a win at Freiburg:
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