The cold and dark nights are drawing in over Europe, which can only mean one thing: the return of Champions League football.
For Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich, they travel to the seaside town of Stavanger, Norway, to play Viking FK – a team which hasn’t featured in the Champions League since 2008 (then called the UEFA Cup).
Following a disappointing 2-2 at Augsburg last Saturday in the Bundesliga, is this the ideal opening match for Bayern or a potential banana skin?
Bayern Munich Arrives in Full Strength
The good news for Bayern is that they’re arriving in Norway with a full-strength side as they look to kickstart their Champions League campaign in the right manner.
Last weekend, the Rekordmiester started with an attacking trio of Luis Diaz, Ismael Saibari, and Michael Olise – spearheaded by Harry Kane.
Saibari pulled a goal back for Bayern on the day, before being substituted in the 66th minute. Whether or not Kompany starts him on Tuesday night is up for debate. Youngster Nathaniel Brown looked sharp off the bench on Saturday and also got a goal. Kompany has had good fortune in playing Brown in a more attacking position, and may start him from the outset against Viking for the sake of healthy competition.
Elsewhere, Lennart Karl may also be hedging his bets for a place in the starting 11. Having returned from an injury which saw him miss the World Cup, the 18-year-old will feel this is the ideal match to kickstart his season. After all, this is the competition in which the youngster really introduced himself on the world stage last season.
Unfamiliar Conditions
Whilst we’re not expecting snowfall in Stavanger this week, temperatures are between 8-12 degrees Celsius – it’s the artificial pitch which will be the biggest factor for Bayern.
Similar to that of their northern neighbours, FK Bodø/Glimt, their artificial pitch has been a real advantage when hosting some of Europe’s elite teams that aren’t used to the surface.
Joshua Kimmich was quizzed on this very topic, but didn’t seem to be worried about the prospect of Bayern not playing their usual style of play:
“To be honest, I haven’t played on artificial turf for quite some time. It’s definitely different, but I think artificial pitches have improved in recent years. I’ll just wait and see what awaits us. But I expect that you can play very good football on artificial turf as well.”
Viking will be hoping for quite the opposite on Tuesday night, as well as continuing their home record. Domestically, Viking have played 10 home league games this season and one al 10, scoring 38 goals and conceding just 10 in the process.
They currently sit at the top of the Norwegian Eliteserien by virtue of head-to-head against second-place Bodø/Glimt.
Whilst Bayern will be heavy favourites and should win, you can never completely write off a Norwegian team on home soil in the Champions League.
GGFN | Jamie Allen