Start of the 'business end' of the season

Extending their Champions League run and securing a good position to kick on in the second leg - those are FC Bayern's goals ahead of Wednesday night's Last 16 first leg in the UCL (live updates from 20:00 CET here and in the FC Bayern app) as the Reds travel to Austrian domestic double winners FC Salzburg. Read the preview ahead of the match to find out what the men from Munich will have to focus on, who's missing in the game played in the city of Mozart, and what the two coaches have had to say ahead of the clash.

📸 The best of the final training session before Salzburg in Munich:

FC Bayern ahead of #SALFCB

UEFA Champions League again at last! Julian Nagelsmann's team can point to an impressive UCL record so far this season: Six wins from six in a group containing Benfica, FC Barcelona and Dynamo Kyiv, and with the best attack (22 goals) and joint-best defence (3, equal with Inter) in Europe's top competition. With 18 points and +19 goal diference, Bayern equalled a group stage record they themselves had set in 2019/20. The end result of that season's campaign was a win in the final against PSG, in Lisbon. However, in order to get a hold on the 'big-eared trophy' this time round on 28 May in St Petersburg, they will need to far outperform their own performance at the weekend, where FCB lost 4-2 at VfL Bochum. "We have to learn the lessons from this defeat and set our course right on Wednesday," said Thomas Müller in Tuesday's press conference, before adding: "Now the business end of the season begins. You want to play against the best in Europe and you want to be among the best."

Bayern suffered a setback away from home against Bochum, but in Europe FCB dazzle on foreign soil: the side have gone 21 consecutive games unbeaten away from home: a record:

FC Salzburg ahead of #SALFCB

The Austrians, who lost both group stage matches against Bayern last season (6-2; 3-1), are now the first Austrian team to reach the UCL Last 16 after finishing second in Group G ahead of Sevilla FC and VfL Wolfsburg. Group winners OSC Lille ended up just a point ahead of Matthias Jaissle's side, who beat Sevilla 1-0 to secure second place. They have Noah Okafor's winner to thank for their progress to the next round of Europe's elite competition. Swiss player Okafor is joint top scorer for Salzburg in the UCL, with 3 goals. Germany international Karim Adeyemi, who played for FC Bayern at youth level from 2009 to 2011, also has 3. The 20-year-old German striker is not the only Salzburg staff member to be a familiar face: German head coach Jaissle (33 years old) once played for Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga and now manages the side on top of their domestic league. It is the first time in the UCL that Bayern coach Nagelsmann (34) has had a younger opposite number than him in the opposing dugout.

Read more about Salzburg:

Squad updates: FC Salzburg vs. FC Bayern

Munich are without Manuel Neuer (knee surgery), Jamal Musiala (Covid), Leon Goretzka (rehab after knee problems) and Alphonso Davies (slight myocarditis).

Salzburg's Nicolas Seiwald, by contrast, is fit again and available for selection. Benjamin Sesko, Luka Susic and the ex-Bremen player Zlatko Junuzovic are all doubts.

Lucas Hernández is ready for action and has good memories of times in Mozart's home city:

What the coaches are saying:

Julian Nagelsmann: "Now we come to the exciting phase of the season. We want to push on from our group stage performances. And in front of almost 30,000 spectators too, we haven't experienced that for a while. It will be an evening and atmosphere befitting the Champions League. Salzburg have a very good team that have done better in the Champions League than ever before. It would be against their DNA for them to become complacent. Matthias Jaissle plays interesting, attacking football and is a decent person. We know each other from our Hoffenheim days. We've exchanged ideas often because we have a good relationship. I'm looking forward to the game."

Matthias Jaissle (FC Salzburg head coach): "Bayern losing away from home is a once in a blue moon occurrence. There is more of a danger now that they'll now want to make up for [losing 4-2 away at Bochum]. But we're ready for that. We clearly have our approach that we want to bring to the game, even if we're coming up against perhaps the best team in the world at the moment."

The best bits from Thomas Müller and Julian Nagelsmann's pre-match press conference, and all information from the Bayern camp ahead of the Last 16 tie can be found here:

The referee: Michael Oliver

Bayern already had the pleasure of being refereed by English referee Michael Oliver on Matchday 1 of the UCL group stage this season, when the men from Munich beat FC Barcelona 3-0. The German record champions also won the two other Bayern games with 36-year-old Oliver in charge: in October 2020, a 4-0 win against Atlético Madrid, and in March 2018, a 3-1 win away at Beşiktaş. Assisting Oliver in Salzburg will be fellow Englishmen Stuart Burt and Simon Bennett, with David Coote acting as the team's fourth official. Chris Kavanagh and Darren England are the VAR team.

🎥 Follow the game minute-by-minute: