Aston Villa vs Bayern Munich Preview

Bayern Munich will look to keep their place at the top of the Champions League league phase table when they travel to Villa Park to face Aston Villa.

The match presents a historic occasion for Aston Villa, who will play their first-ever home Champions League tie. The hosts couldn’t have picked a better side to face on such an event than the team they bettered to secure their one and only European Cup back in 1982. And having won comprehensively on matchday one against Young Boys (3-0), confidence in the home dressing room should be high.

That win makes up part of an impressive start to the new season for Villa, who have lost only one of their opening eight games (W6, D1), with that one draw coming away at newly-promoted Ipswich on Sunday. Unai Emery will be hoping his side bounces back here.

That said, there is evidence they can bounce back, as his side did win their first six home matches in Europe last season. Yet the step up from Europe’s third-tier competition to its pinnacle is stark and will test the Villans.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich are the kind of opponents who will test Villa. The visitors have been rampant this season. The only blemish from their opening seven games is a 1-1 draw with reigning German champions Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, and that was a game they statistically dominated throughout.

Bayern also made some history on matchday one of the Champions League, becoming the first side to score nine in a single game as they thrashed Dinamo Zagreb. While Vincent Kompany’s men are sure to walk out to a raucous atmosphere at Villa Park, they’re well experienced in the competition and rarely overawed at this stage.

In fact, they travel to England boasting a remarkable record of 41 Champions League  group/league phase matches without defeat (W37, D4).