Feyenoord Vs Bayern Munich: Die Roten Chasing Safe Zone

Harry Kane, Bayer Munich striker who will make 50 appearances in the Champions League (photo: x @Hkane)

JAKARTA - Feyenoord and Bayern Munich will meet in the Champions League interesting match at De Kuip on Wednesday night, January 22 or Thursday morning WIB. Bayern, who are outside the top eight of the Champions League phase league standings, are trying to avoid the playoffs from reaching the last 16. Meanwhile, Feyenoord, who is in the playoffs zone with 10 points, also hopes to secure their position.

Despite being the third team with the highest goal productivity in the Champions League this season behind Barcelona (21 goals) and Borussia Dortmund (18 goals), Bayern Munich still have a tough job to make sure it's a live place in the last 16.

Vincent Kompany's team is now one point adrift of the automatic zone after losing to Aston Villa and Barcelona, but managed to bounce back with a straight win over Shakhtar Donetsk, Benfica, and Paris Saint-Germain.

A landslide 5-1 victory against Shakhtar is proof of their dominance, even without Harry Kane who is usually the mainstay on the front lines. In addition, Bayern also performed brilliantly in the Bundesliga with successive wins over RB Leipzig, Borussia Monchengladbach, Hoffenheim, and Wolfsburg, maintaining a four-point lead at the top of the standings of Bayer Leverkusen.

History also sided with Bayern who have never lost to a Dutch team since the 2-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in October 1999. In the last eight matches against the Dutch team in the Champions League, Bayern have always been unbeaten.

Feyenoord has been the most entertaining team in the Champions League this season with a total of 29 goals involved in their game (14 goals scored, 15 conceded). Not a single Feyenoord match in this competition ended in less than four goals.

In their last match in the Champions League, Feyennoord won 4-2 over Sparta Prague, which put them in 18th place in the standings. However, their performance at the Eredivisie was less convincing with three games without a win, including a 1-1 draw against Willem II last Saturday.

Problems at the back are of the main concern of Feyennoord who have failed to record a clean sheet in the last 10 games. Their last meeting with Bayern took place in the 2001-02 group phase, where Feyennoord lost 3-1.

Bayern received positive news about Joao Palhinha who has returned to training partly after a muscle injury, although he is not ready to appear in this match. Sacha Boey (an ankle injury) and Hiroki Ito (an ankle injury) are also still absent, while Daniel Peretz is still recovering from illness.

Harry Kane has the chance to make his 50th appearance in the Champions League and could be the third England player to score in the 50th game, after Wayne Rooney and Phil Foden.

Feyenoord has the potential to lose several important players in midfield, including Ramiz Zerrouki who was injured in the match against Sparta Prague. Quinten Timber (lutut) and Hwang In-beom are also still in doubt. Jordan Lotomba (leg injury), Bart Nieuwkoop ( hip injury), and Chris-Kevin Nadje are also still under treatment.

However, Santiago Gimenez remains a mainstay on the front lines with Igor Paixao and Anis Hadj Moussa.

With history supporting Bayern and Feyenoord's unconvincing performance, this match is predicted to be a tough test for the hosts. However, the chances remain for Feyennoord to surprise this German giant.

Feyenoord: Wellenreuther; Bueno, Trauner, Hancko, Smal; Stengs, Zechiel, Milimbo; Moussa, Gimenez, Paixao

Bayern Munich: Neuer; Laimer, Kim, Upamecano, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Olise, Musiala, Sane; Kane