Bayern to make light work of Lazio once more
This season's Champions League round of 16 ties concludes on Wednesday night, and only a miraculous comeback in Germany will see visitors Lazio, after a long absence from this stage of the competition, through to the next round. The Italian side offered scant resistance in the reverse fixture, losing 4-1 at home to Bayern Munich. Whilst FC Hollywood have been far from infallible in 2020/2021, it's very difficult to foresee I Biancocelesti notching the four goals without reply they'd need to turn around the deficit. Read our preview here:
Leon's in charge
It's no secret that head coach Hansi Flick is currently wanted by the German national team to take the job after the rescheduled Euro 2020 tournament finishes. His stiny in charge of Bayern has reaped many trophies in a short space of time, and he has become renowned for putting the onus firmly on the attack; the full-backs bomb up the pitch, acting more like wingers who are capable of cutting inside and taking shots of their own; the centre backs can push high because of their ease in bringing the ball out from their own third (much like goalkeeper Manuel Neuer); the attacking midfield trio behind hitman Robert Lewandowski buzz about with pace and purpose, stretching opposition defences beyond breaking point in the process. Even the double pivot act as that only in matches where they're well-matched, and often stride forwards to create overloads in central areas. Joshua Kimmich has completed the same transformation that Phillip Lahm did before him, converting from full-back to a deep-lying midfielder; if anything though, Lahm's spiritual successor is more creative, and he'll be a big threat from both open play and set pieces in that regard. He's nominally partnered by Leon Goretzka has largely undergone the opposite transformation, but his attacking instincts are still allowed to come to the fore. Lazio could be made to pay dearly for swamping central areas, but with far less distinction between the roles in midfield.
Musacchio about nothing
Simone Inzaghi is going to have to find a way of keeping his central defensive trio much tighter whilst also paradoxically being given more support at no cost to the onus on taking the game to Bayern. Those three balls are almost going to prove impossible to juggle successfully, and one of the chief reasons for that comes from within. Argentinian stopper Mateo Musacchio was hapless in the first leg, and suffered the ignominy of being substituted after little more than 30 minutes. Whilst a knock certainly aggravated his poor performance, he won't enjoy much protection from Mohamed Fares on his flank, either. The general strategy ignores the opposite wing as an attacking option, so expect the likes of Benjamin Pavard and Leroy Sané in particular to ruthlessly exploit the space on the counter.
A Flick of the hand
Regardless of whether Flick is successfully courted by Germany, Bayern will be in excellent hands next season. True, it hasn't been plain sailing in the Bundesliga, but they still have a four-point lead over nearest rivals RB Leipzig. In Europe, it's even harder to live with them, and Lazio are not in good form coming into Wednesday night, currently sitting a poor seventh domestically. Whilst there's little need for the hosts to attack, it's almost certain they will from the off. betway have odds of 3.00 for over 4.5 goals on the night, the majority of which will definitely be scored by the men in red.
