After winning five of their six group stage matches, Bayern Munich advanced to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. The Bavarians will now play SS Lazio in the opening round of the knockouts, thus the quality of the competition can only get stronger from here.
It was not impossible to overcome, surely. The draw should make Bayern Munich very happy. Even though Thomas Tuchel’s team would have been the favorites to defeat every other team, you can never be upset when the more advantageous opponents from the previous draws show up.
Here’s why Bayern Munich should be pleased with this draw as they travel to Rome:
Let’s start by addressing the obvious. Even though they haven’t been playing well lately, Bayern Munich continue to be the favorite to win the UCL because of their enormous star power. The other half of the attack has been excellent at stifling opportunities, but Harry Kane (also known as #HurriKane) has been netting goals for joy.
With just 15 goals conceded (on course to surpass the GA record from the previous season), Bayern Munich is second in the league behind only Bayer Leverkusen, who are the current season’s breakthrough stars in Europe.
When compared to all the other possibilities, Lazio was most likely one of the better draws. A class of unimaginable magnitude would have to collapse in order to miss out on an effortless progression to the quarterfinals.
Lazio is going to cause some issues
Lazio is hardly a weak team. They advanced from a group that included Celtic, Feyenoord, and Atletico Madrid. They had three victories, one tie, and ten points at the end of six games—a very respectable number. Although their ninth-place finish in the Serie A table doesn’t speak much of the team’s strength, they are always a threat on the counter thanks to players like Mattia Zaccagni, Daichi Kamada, Ciro Immobile, and Matteo Guendouzi.
Nicolò Rovella is a young player who is becoming better every game, so you have a team with good balance and a chance. Bayern has discovered from previous experiences (the loss to Villarreal, the near-miss in Salzburg, etc.) that no opponent in the UCL should be taken lightly. This is not a daunting task for a club of Bayern’s caliber, but it will be an excellent matchup between two teams with very different styles.
