Champions League Final: Bayern Munich Vs. Chelsea At Allianz Arena

Battle For Europe

By Karthick Arvinth, Goal.com

Jupp Heynckes' side will be dreaming of lifting a fifth European crown in its own stadium, while the Blues have set their sights on completing a remarkable cup double

BAYERN MUNICH
Neuer
Lahm, Tymoshchuk, Boateng, Contento
Schweinsteiger, Kroos
Robben, Muller, Ribery
Gomez

CHELSEA
Cech
Bosingwa, Cahill, David Luiz, Cole
Mikel, Essien
Kalou, Lampard, Mata
Drogba

Bayern Munich will be without suspended trio Holger Badstuber, David Alaba and Luiz Gustavo for Saturday's Champions League final showdown with Chelsea at the Allianz Arena.

Defender Breno (knee) is out and Daniel Van Buyten is shorn of match fitness, so Anatoliy Tymoshchuk and Diego Contento are likely to deputize for Badstuber and Alaba, respectively.

Thomas Muller should get a recall to the starting XI, with Toni Kroos dropping into a deeper midfield role alongside Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Chelsea will have defenders David Luiz and Gary Cahill available for selection, with the duo appearing to be winning their fitness battles following hamstring injuries.

The news will come as a boost to interim boss Roberto Di Matteo, as regular defenders John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic are serving suspensions along with Ramires and Raul Meireles.

Winger Florent Malouda (hamstring) is a doubt, while Didier Drogba should get the nod up front ahead of Fernando Torres.

  • Bayern Munich has won 13 of its last 14 matches at the Allianz Arena in all competitions, drawing the other.
  • Should the Bavarians triumph on Saturday, they will join Liverpool on five European Cup wins, and become the joint-third most successful club in the competition's history behind Real Madrid (nine) and AC Milan (seven).
  • The Bundesliga club is the first to benefit from home advantage in a European Cup final since Roma played Liverpool at the Stadio Olimpico in the 1984 showpiece.
  • A Bayern victory will make Jupp Heynckes (pictured right) only the fourth coach to have won the tournament with two clubs after Ernst Happel, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Jose Mourinho.
  • Chelsea has won just once away from home in this season's Champions League and has already lost in Germany: a 2-1 reverse at Bayer Leverkusen in the group stage.
  • The Blues' only previous meeting with Bayern came in the quarterfinals of the Champions League in 2005, with the Londoners prevailing 6-5 on aggregate.
  • The Premier League side's overall record away to German opposition is W1, D1, L4, with the sole victory coming at Stuttgart in the 2003-04 Champions League round of 16.
  • Chelsea's only previous European Cup final appearance came in 2008 in Moscow when it lost on penalties to Manchester United after a 1-1 draw.

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