Bayern Munich are through to the knockout stage of the Champions League as they sit second in Group B, and with a little bit of luck if Paris Saint-Germain stumble, they still have a slight chance at the top spot. Bayern will head out on the road to take on Anderlecht, who are at the bottom of the group and are just trying to play spoiler now.
What To Know About Bayern Munich
Bayern booked their spot in the knockout stage with a 2-1 win at Celtic as Kingsley Coman scored in the 22nd minute and while Celtic equalized in the 74th minute, Javi Martinez scored just three minutes later to give Bayern all three points. Bayern has seven wins and a draw in eight matches since firing Carlo Ancelotti and hiring Jupp Heynckes (while Willy Sagnol was the interim manager for about 10 days), and they have won three and lost one in the Champions League. Away from home, they have a win and a loss while scoring two goals and allowing four; their setback was a 3-0 drugging at PSG in which Ancelotti was fired the following day. Joshua Kimmich leads the team with two goals, while six other players have scored one, and five players have an assist for Bayern, who is playing with much more confidence and they have to believe that they can win this game to set up a potential first-place game at home against PSG in the final matchday. However, they need to PSG to lose at home against Celtic.
What To Know About Anderlecht
Anderlecht didn’t have much luck in Paris as they were throttled 5-0 in their last Champions League match, as the game was 2-0 to PSG at halftime and that was basically that. Anderlecht hasn’t scored a goal in the group stage and have allowed 15, with seven of those coming at home. They have the slightest of chances to make it to the Europa League, but they would need a lot of things to happen before they could even think about that and they still have to go to Celtic on the final matchday. Their main scorer is Henry Onyekuru, who has scored six goals in the Belgian Jupiler League, but overall, Anderlecht are simply way out of their element in the Champions League and they’re probably just happy to be here.
Outlook
Bayern are favored on the road at -400, while Anderlecht comes in at -900 and a draw is listed at +500. These two have played nine times in the past with Bayern winning five and drawing two, while Anderlecht’s wins came in the second leg of the quarterfinals of the 1986 European Cup (which is now the Champions League), and that win actually put them through to the next round. They also at Bayern in the second leg of the round of 16 of the 2008 UEFA Cup (now the Europa League), but Bayern won the first leg 5-0. Bayern won 3-0 at home over Anderlecht in September, but Anderlecht played about 80 minutes with 10 men. Robert Lewandowski scored, along with Kimmich and Thiago Alcantara. They should roll over Anderlecht in this match as well.
Champions League Betting Pick: Bayern
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