Lazio vs Bayern Munich live on February 23, 2021: How to watch this UCL last 16 tie live in 170+ countries

February 23, 2021 By Ali M.

Topics: TV Schedules, Lazio, Bayern Munich, UEFA Champions League

The German giants resume their UEFA Champions League with their trip to Rome as they look to end their two-game winless run. Here's a preview of Lazio vs Bayern Munich.

Lazio vs Bayern Munich – preview

Bayern Munich resume their UEFA Champions League title defense on Tuesday, taking on a resurgent Lazio side for the first leg of their round of 16 showdown. The Italian outfit will host the German giants at the Stadio Olimpico at 3 p.m. ET with the goal of pulling off the daunting task that is beating the Bundesliga giants.

Inzaghi's side will have the home advantage but that amounts to little when facing the team that conquered Germany, Europe, and the entire world in a single year. However, the Eagles head into this tie on the back of lovely form, having climbed their way back up into the top-four race.

The Rome club currently sit in sixth in the table but are only a point behind fourth-placed Roma and two behind third-placed Juventus. Immobile and Co. endured a rough start to the Serie A campaign but have slowly climbed up thanks to a string of excellent results, winning all but two of their last nine Italian top-flight fixtures (D1, L1).

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Bayern Munich's form heading into this fixture. While the German giants have lost only four games across all competitions this season, their most recent defeat came in their last outing, going 2-1 down at Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

This was the second game in a row Flick's side failed to win, drawing 3-3 with Arminia Bielefeld in the previous round. That slip-up was written off as it came straight after Lewandowski and Co. had returned from their title-winning FIFA Club World Cup campaign in Doha, but with second-placed RB Leipzig moving within two points of the reigning champions, there are concerns over Bayern Munich's form.

However, in Europe, it's a whole different story for die Roten. Unlike Lazio, who came close to crashing out of the tournament in the group stage, Bayern Munich steamrolled past everyone, including Atletico Madrid. They picked up 16 points out of a possible 18, with a 1-1 draw at Los Rojiblancos being the only stain in a near-perfect campaign. There is a reason why Lewandowski and Co. are the most feared team in Europe. Lazio are aware of this and must put in a perfect display in order to win this first-leg tie.

Team news

Lazio: Luiz Felipe, Stefan Radu, Thomas Strakosha and Silvio Proto all look to miss this crucial tie. Djavan Anderson has also pulled out of the squad for Tuesday's clash.

Bayern Munich: Pavard and Muller both miss this tie due to COVID-19 but those aren't Flick's only absentees. Corentin Tolisso, Serge Gnabry, Douglas Costa, Alexander Nubel and Tanguy Nianzou miss the trip to Rome due to injuries, but the visitors are boosted by the return of Goretzka and Martinez. Boateng is back in the squad to shore up the defense after being given time off due to personal reasons.

Key stats

Bayern Munich have failed to win a UCL game only once since March 2019 and that was the 1-1 draw at Atletico in the group stage.
The Bundesliga champions have reached the quarter-final stage of this competition in eight of the last nine seasons.
Lewandowski and Co. have not lost an away European fixture since Matchday 1 of the 2017/18 campaign, a 16-match unbeaten run.
Bayern drew 2-2 at Juventus in 2015/16, their last trip to Italy, and have lost 11 out of their 31 encounters with Italian clubs (W13, D7).