Chelsea are all set to kick off their Champions League campaign against Bayern Munich tonight after a two-year absence from Europe's top club competition. Enzo Maresca will have a difficult job on his hands as the Blues look to start things off with a win, as they have been handed one of the toughest matchups possible.
It won’t be an easy task by any means, especially given the depleted Chelsea side. The club were already without Levi Colwill, who suffered an ACL injury in pre-season training, and will be sidelined for a long period.
However, Chelsea’s misfortunes didn’t stop at just defensive woes, as their number 9, Liam Delap, will also miss out for some time, potentially until December, and won’t be available against Bayern Munich either. That leaves Maresca with Joao Pedro as the only established option up front. Marc Guiu is his cover but he did not even make the bench against Brentford.
This comes after Chelsea’s primary striker from last season, Nicolas Jackson, moved to the Bundesliga giants on the deadline day of the summer transfer window on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy. In fact, he could make an appearance against his parent club on Tuesday.
Enzo Maresca makes honest admission ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League opener vs Bayern Munich
Maresca has made an honest revelation regarding Vincent Kompany having Jackson at his disposal and how it could affect Chelsea against Bayern Munich. As reported by Football London, the Italian manager said:
"It can be a small advantage [having an inside knowledge of Chelsea] because he [Vincent Kompany] can ask Nico how we work. He knows how we approach games, but at the end, we will see."
Anyway, Chelsea have overcome tougher opponents before. Most recently, they defeated Paris Saint-Germain to be crowned Club World Champions. So, the team might want to take some inspiration from that matchup.
Meanwhile, Cole Palmer has recovered from his injury and even got on the scoresheet in his comeback. Additionally, Estevao, who was missing against Brentford, could also be back in the lineup.
All things considered, this matchup promises to be an exciting contest and is too close to call at the moment, despite Bayern Munich having a slight advantage in both proven quality and Jackson’s knowledge of how things operate at Chelsea. Let's see how it all plays out when the two European giants meet at the Allianz Arena.