"Of course, when part of that history is losing a Champions League final at home to said rival, the origin of the rivalry makes sense. That was back in 2012. Bayern made the perfect comeback from such a devastating occasion, roaring back to win a historic treble and even cathartically beating Chelsea through netting a late equalizer and then winning the penalty shootout in, erm, the 2013 UEFA Super Cup."
"Chelsea are a very strong opponent with many young, hungry players who have big potential. We saw that at the Club World Cup, when they surprisingly won the final so comfortably. It will be a tough game. The key to success? Our high pressing, our build-up play, our high pace, our intensity. That gives us a weapon. We won't always score four goals in the first half, but over a full game, we can hurt any opponent with that."
"Manuel Neuer is the last player of the 2012 team still at Bayern, though, and recent memory of games against Chelsea are much more happy. 2020's 7-1 aggregate victory of the Blues was fun and it preceded a multi-year run of Chelsea failing to even qualify for Europes elite competition. But they are back now and announced themselves to Europe by dominating treble-winning PSG in the FIFA Club World Cup. What is the matchup going to look like?"
Bayern Munich and Chelsea have a rivalry rooted in the 2012 Champions League final loss at Bayern's home, followed by Bayern's 2013 Super Cup revenge and a treble-winning season. Manuel Neuer remains the only Bayern player from 2012 still at the club. Recent meetings favored Bayern, including a 7-1 aggregate win in 2020, while Chelsea then missed several Champions League seasons. Chelsea returned by convincingly beating PSG to win the Club World Cup. Bayern defender Jonathan Tah emphasized sticking to Bayern's high-press, high-pace build-up and intensity as the strategy to hurt Chelsea over a full match.
Read at Bavarian Football Works
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]