In the second installment of the second round of the Champions League, Aston Villa face Bayern Munich and Benfica Lisbon take on Atletico Madrid, four of the teams that won the first round.
Since the draw was made, they have been eagerly awaiting this match in Birmingham. It is more than fitting that Aston Villa's first home game in the Champions League (or the former European Champions Cup) since 1983 should be against Bayern Munich. In 1982, Aston Villa won the Champions Cup with a 1-0 victory over Bayern in the final in Rotterdam. In 1983, Aston Villa said goodbye to the top European Cup stage for 41 years.
Unai Emery's team crushed Young Boys 3-0 in the first round and made it clear that they had something to make up for after missing out on the Champions League. "But every game in this phase of the league is extremely difficult. At the same time, you can't drop too many points to be top of the table after eight rounds," said Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans.
Bayern Munich will challenge Aston Villa. In the opening round, the Munich side became the first team ever to score nine goals in a Champions League match (9-2 against Dinamo Zagreb). In addition, Bayern have not been defeated in the group stage or now the new league phase of the Champions League since September 2017 and a 3-0 loss to PSG in 41 games (37 wins, 4 draws).
Two winners will also meet in Benfica Lisbon v Atletico Madrid. Benfica won 2-1 at Red Star Belgrade in the opener, while Atletico also came from 1-0 down to beat Red Bull Leipzig 2-1.
Liverpool also host FC Bologna, Real Madrid take on Lille and Leipzig welcome Juventus Turin.
SDA
