Bayern Munich take on defending DFB Pokal champions Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16 on Tuesday with only one of the Bundesliga giants advancing to the quarterfinals. Vincent Kompany’s men drew with Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker over the weekend in preparation, while Xabi Alonso’ side edged out Union Berlin in the German topflight. Both sides won in the UEFA Champions League last midweek and Bayern are six points clear at the Bundesliga summit.
Ulm and Mainz have been seen off by Bayern so far and now the Bavarian giants turn their attention to the cup with 20 titles to their name coming into this edition. However, their last triumph in this competition came back in 2020 so there will be no shortage of motivation in this round of 16 meeting. Leverkusen beat Kaiserslautern in last year’s final to complete an unbeaten domestic term. Die Werkself have only eliminated Bayern once in seven cup outings and have seen off Carl Zeiss Jena and Elversberg so far.
Bayern and Leverkusen is a much more even contest these days with Alonso overseeing an unbeaten four-game run against Kompany’s outfit. The visitors have scored in their last 34 DFB Pokal away games but the last time that they failed to score in a domestic cup game was back in 2015 against Bayern which finished on penalties.
Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more.
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How to watch and odds
- Date: Tuesday, December 3 | Time: 2:45 p.m. ET
- Location: Allianz Arena – Munich, Bavaria, Germany
- Watch: ESPN+
- Odds: Bayern +450; Draw +300; Leverkusen -167
Season so far
Bayern lead defending champions Leverkusen by nine points in the Bundesliga after Kompany’s Bavarians salvaged a point against Dortmund, which kept up an unbeaten away record but ended a seven-game winning run including 18 goals and seven clean sheets. Alonso’s Werkself are ahead of Bayern in the UCL league phase standings and closed the gap a little in the Bundesliga thanks to a win over Union but it has been a tricky title defense so far overall.
Team news
Bayern: Harry Kane is out injured and could miss a week or so with Thomas Muller or Mathys Tel expected to come in. Joao Palhinha, Hiroki Ito, Josip Stanisic and Sven Ulreich are also out while Aleksandar Pavlovic is doubtful despite being back in training.
Possible Bayern XI: Neuer; Boey, Upamecano, Kim, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Olise, Musiala, Coman; Muller.
Leverkusen: Victor Boniface, Jonas Hofmann, Amine Adli, Jeanuel Belocian and Martin Terrier are all injured with Patrick Schick expected to deputize up top while Artem Stepanov is also an attacking option. Florian Wirtz should come back in while Robert Andrich, Aleix Garcia and captain Granit Xhaka should form the midfield.
Possible Leverkusen XI: Kovar; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Xhaka, Andrich, Garcia, Grimaldo; Wirtz; Schick.
Prediction
Considering Leverkusen’s absentees as well as Bayern’s obvious depleted attack, expect fewer goals and perhaps for the hosts to emerge victorious by a single goal here. Pick: Bayern 1, Leverkusen 0.
