By Rune Gjerulff @runegjerulff
With Joshua Kimmich and Thomas Müller ruled out due to COVID-19, Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann is expected to make a number of changes to his side for tonight’s Champions League clash with Viktoria Plzen.
| Ryan Gravenberch could make a rare start against Viktoria Plzen. | Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
FC Bayern will be aiming to make it three wins out of three in the Champions League when Viktoria Plzen visit Allianz Arena tonight.
Julian Nagelsmann’s troops finally managed to end their winless streak in the Bundesliga with a crushing 4-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen last Friday. They now face Czech champions Viktoria Plzen before familiar foes Borussia Dortmund await on Saturday.
“I’m expecting a top performance, a very motivated performance. We want to continue what the players were doing very well against Leverkusen including concentration in front of the opposition goal,” said Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann ahead of the game.
“We have to keep on picking up points. It’s extremely important for the Champions League to win the game against Plzeň – and also to maintain the rhythm for the Dortmund game.”
Nagelsmann will have to make at least two changes to the team that beat Leverkusen, with Joshua Kimmich and Thomas Müller both set to miss out due to COVID-19.
“We have to rotate a little bit, but we won’t make wholesale changes. We have options. We could make early changes or adjust the starting XI,” noted the Bayern coach.
Ryan Gravenberch and Serge Gnabry are expected to replace Kimmich and Müller, while Leon Goretzka and Mathys Tel could play at the expense of Marcel Sabitzer and Leroy Sané.
In addition to Kimmich and Müller, Bayern will be without Bouna Sarr (knee), Lucas Hernandez (groin) and Kingsley Coman (fitness).
Plzen have a number of absentees too, with Bucha (suspended), Kliment (muscular), Staněk (shoulder), Sýkora (knee) all set to miss the game.
Check out our predicted lineups for the game here.
