Aston Villa vs Bayern Munich – Match Preview and team news

Aston Villa welcome Bayern Munich to Villa Park on Wednesday night, as Birmingham celebrates the return of big-time European football.

The club’s first home fixture in Europe’s top competition since 1983 is a fitting one, as six-time European champions Bayern Munich visit in a rematch of Aston Villa’s greatest night. It’s the first meeting between the teams since the 1982 European Cup final, when Peter Withe scored the only goal of the game to crown The Villans champions of Europe.

Villa began their Champions League venture with a 3-0 win at Young Boys, while Bayern thrashed Dinamo Zagreb (9-2) to become the first team to score nine goals in a game in the Champions League era.

Aston Villa vs Bayern Munich – Match Preview and team news

Form

Aston Villa: WWWWD

Unai Emery’s side were held at newly-promoted Ipswich Town at the weekend, ending a run of five consecutive wins in all competitions. Aston Villa have made a solid start to the campaign and sit fifth in the Premier League table, outlining their credentials for another push for the top four.

Ollie Watkins scored his fourth goal of the Premier League season at Portman Road and created another, with the 28-year-old quickly recapturing last season’s heights. Watkins scored 19 goals and laid on 13 assists in the Premier League in 2023/24 to fire Aston Villa to Champions League qualification. Jhon Duran is offering fine support and has four goals of his own, each of which have come as a substitute.

Morgan Rogers is also catching the eye this season. The 22-year-old scored his first league goal of the season at the weekend and created four chances against Young Boys on matchday one.

Bayern Munich: WWWWD

Bayern Munich also saw a winning run halted at the weekend after a 1-1 draw with Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen. Aleksandar Pavlovic cancelled out Robert Andrich’s opener for Leverkusen as the points were shared at the Allianz Arena.

Before that draw, Bayern had won five consecutive games, scoring 25 goals in the process. Their 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb on matchday one was the first time a team has scored nine goals in a game during the Champions League era.

Harry Kane scored four times, to become the first Englishman to score four goals in a Champions League game. The 31-year-old also moved past Wayne Rooney as the highest-scoring English player in the competition’s history.

Last Meeting

Aston Villa 1-0 Bayern Munich, European Cup final, 26th May 1982

The only previous meeting between the teams ended in Aston Villa’s greatest night, as Tony Barton’s team beat Bayern to be crowned European champions.

Despite the setback of losing goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer to injury inside 10 minutes, Villa denied Bayern with Nigel Spink – in just his second first-team appearance – in inspired form in goal. Peter Withe scored the game’s only goal on 67 minutes, as Villa continued England’s dominance of the European Cup.

It was a sixth successive success for English clubs, after wins for Liverpool (1977, 1978 and 1981) and Nottingham Forest (1979 and 1980).

Predicted Lineups

Aston Villa: Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; Bailey, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins

Bayern Munich: Neuer; Guerreiro, Upamecano, Kim, Davies; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Musiala, Gnabry; Kane

Who is the referee?

Radu Petrescu (Romania).

What channel is Aston Villa vs Bayern Munich on?

The match will be shown live on TNT Sports 1 with coverage starting at 19:00 BST.

What time is kick off?

20:00 BST.

Odds

Aston Villa – 10/3

Draw – 10/3

Bayern Munich – 13/20

Read – Five talking points ahead of the Champions League action

See more – The top speeds reached by Premier League players so far this season

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