The Champions League’s opening week delivers a marquee fixture that drips with history and tension as Bayern Munich host Chelsea at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.
The clash instantly conjures echoes of the 2012 final played on the same pitch, when Chelsea stunned Bayern in a penalty shootout to capture their first European crown.
Thirteen years on, the backdrop has shifted, but the matchup retains its bite, now framed by UEFA’s expanded 36-team league phase in which every point is precious for a top-eight berth and a direct path to the knockouts.
Bayern enter as a club on a mission.
Under Vincent Kompany, the Bavarians have surged into the 2025-26 season without a blemish.
Their Bundesliga title defense began with a ruthless streak – five wins in five across all competitions, capped by a 5-0 thrashing of Hamburger SV on Saturday.
They are averaging more than three goals per game, have already lifted the German Super Cup, and continue to treat the Allianz Arena as an impenetrable fortress.
Bayern have not lost a Champions League league-phase or group match at home since December 2013, a run of 34 straight.
In opening fixtures, they are even more ruthless – victorious in each of the last 22 campaigns.
Yet Europe has not been kind to Bayern in recent years.
Since lifting the trophy in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown final against Paris Saint-Germain, the Bavarians have stumbled on the continental stage.
Quarterfinal exits to PSG, Villarreal and Manchester City, and a semifinal loss to Real Madrid in 2024, highlight how close and yet how far they remain from reclaiming dominance.
The frustration deepened this summer when Chelsea, of all teams, beat them in the expanded Club World Cup in the U.S. before lifting the trophy.
It was a reminder that while Bayern have ruled Germany with near impunity, their European supremacy remains unfinished business.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are back among Europe’s elite after two seasons away.
Their absence from the Champions League was glaring for a club with their pedigree, but under Enzo Maresca, they clawed back.
A fourth-place Premier League finish in 2024-25 sealed their return, while a Conference League triumph over Real Betis and a Club World Cup victory restored silverware to Stamford Bridge.
That Club World Cup title also secured Chelsea a rare place in football history: the first club to win every major UEFA competition.
Still, Chelsea arrive with lingering questions.
Their domestic start has been steady but unspectacular – unbeaten but blemished by two frustrating draws in London derbies, including a 2-2 scrap against Brentford last weekend that exposed defensive frailties against long throws.
Maresca’s squad is talented but stretched thin.
Mykhaylo Mudryk is suspended, while Liam Delap, Benoit Badiashile, Romeo Lavia and Dario Essugo are sidelined by injuries.
Estevao Willian is battling illness, and Joao Pedro admitted he wasn’t fully fit before Brentford – though he still managed his fifth goal contribution in four games, a pace matched only by Eden Hazard in Chelsea history.
Cole Palmer, who scored as a substitute against Brentford, is expected to start and shoulder creative responsibility in Musiala’s absence.
Musiala’s absence itself adds another layer of narrative.
A Chelsea academy product for eight years before joining Bayern, the 22-year-old German international has become central to Kompany’s plans but remains sidelined with a severe leg and ankle fracture suffered during the Club World Cup.
He joins Alphonso Davies, Hiroki Ito and Raphael Guerreiro on Bayern’s injury list, leaving the defense patched together.
Guerreiro aggravated a rib injury in the weekend win, compounding Kompany’s headaches at left back.
But further forward, the Bavarians remain devastating.
Harry Kane continues to lead the line with efficiency, while summer signing Luis Diaz has become an instant hit, scoring in each of his first three Bundesliga matches to equal a club record.
The rivalry’s head-to-head ledger favors Bayern in recent years.
After Chelsea’s unforgettable 2012 triumph, Bayern responded with authority, winning three straight meetings, including a 7-1 aggregate demolition in the 2020 round of 16.
Overall, the record sits at Bayern with four wins, Chelsea with two (including that 2012 final), and one draw. Both clubs know the history, and both know how symbolic another win could be in defining their current ambitions
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