Atalanta vs Bayern Munich – Match preview and team news

Atalanta host Bayern Munich in the last-16 of this season’s UEFA Champions League in a first ever meeting between the two sides.

Vincent Kompany’s side are the overwhelming favourites to win this tie after finishing second in the league phase table.

La Dea, though, will be hoping to pull off an upset after staging a dramatic comeback victory over another German side, Borussia Dortmund, in the play-off round.

Atalanta comes into this first leg with a number of key fitness concerns, with several important players either ruled out or racing against time to be involved.

Raffaele Palladino is without suspended Giorgio Scalvini, although he is also nursing his knee injury.

Ederson has been working his way back from injury and has recently returned to the squad, giving Atalanta a timely boost.

Giacomo Raspadori and Charles De Ketelaere are also sidelined with their respective injuries and both are expected to return later this month.

Manuel Neuer has been ruled out after suffering a calf muscle injury during the 4-1 Bundesliga win over Borussia Monchengladbach.

The injury is expected to sideline him for around two weeks, meaning he will miss the Champions League tie. With Neuer unavailable, Jonas Urbig is set to start between the posts for Bayern in this match.

Alphonso Davies and Hiroki Ito are sidelined as well. Cassino Kiala, the 17-year-old defender is also out for the whole season.

There were also concerns about striker Harry Kane, who recently missed a league match due to a minor injury. However, the problem is not considered serious and Bayern’s coaching staff remain hopeful he will be fit to play.

Atalanta approach this match with mixed but generally competitive recent form. In their latest outing, the Italian side played out a 2–2 draw against Udinese in the Serie A. They are currently in seventh position in the Serie A table with 46 points from 28 matches.

After the 2–2 draw against Hamburger SV on January 31st, Bayern have won six straight matches in all competitions and scored 20 goals during this period. In the Bundesliga, they currently lead the table by 11 points with 66 points from 25 matches and a goal difference of +68.

Atalanta: Carnesecchi; Kossounou, Hien, Kolasinac; Zappacosta, De Roon, Pasalic, Bernasconi; Samardzic, Zalewski; Scamacca

Bayern Munich: Urbig; Stanisic, Upamecano, Tah, Laimer; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Musiala, Diaz; Kane

In the UK, Atalanta vs Bayern Munich will be shown live on TNT Sports 2.

Read – Le Bris says Sunderland players did not realise FA Cup opportunity after exit

See Also – Rice urges Arsenal to ignore ‘noise’ around style of play

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | TikTok