Europe's elite club competition is back in town. FC Bayern kick off the new 2017/18 Champions League campaign with a home game on Tuesday night (20:45 CET on live text commentary and webradio at fcbayern.com). The encounter with RSC Anderlecht is eagerly awaited and Carlo Ancelotti is in confident mood ahead of the new season in Europe. "We're better than last year. I hope we can show that in our first game," said the coach on Monday.
"We're happy the Champions League is here again. It's been far too long," said Joshua Kimmich looking back at the last Champions League outing in the quarter-final second leg tie in Madrid. A one-match ban from that match means Arturo Vidal will miss the game on Tuesday. The Chilean is joined on the sidelines by the injured David Alaba (knee) and Juan Bernat (ankle) and a decision on Franck Ribéry's fitness will be made after the final pre-match training sessions.
Boateng in the squad
Jérôme Boateng returns to the squad and he may contribute to FCB winning the opening fixture 14 times in succession.Three points against Anderlecht are very important to Manuel Neuer: "It's important to start well. Particularly when you're at home We want to assert oursleves and lead the group from the start."
Accordingly, the captain declared: "We'll prepare well to find out as much as we can about their game." The defeat at the weekend is to be forgotten as soon as possible. "We want to show a different side. We have to move the ball quickly. We have to try and dominate the game to create chances and get our just rewards," said Neuer.
Cautious Belgians
Anderlecht are not that well-known at the Allianz Arena.The last game aginst the Belgians was in the UEFA Cup in 2007/08. Nevertheless, Ancelotti has a lot of respect for the opposition. "Anderlecht are a good team. They are well organised and have options in attack. We have to have a good plan and focus on our own game," said the 58-year-old.
The Belgians have not started the new season well. Although the team lying tenth in the Jupiler Pro League were able to come from behind to win 3-2 at the weekend. "I'm concerned about our winning the ball and our attacking game,"said the RSC coach René Weiler. The Swiss manager was cautious ahead of the game against FC Bayern: "We'll try to perform to our potential and give Bayern a game. But there probably isn't too much to be gained."
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