Chelsea to learn place among Europe's elite as new-look Blues size up Bayern Munich test

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·17 de septiembre de 2025

Chelsea to learn place among Europe's elite as new-look Blues size up Bayern Munich test

Making their return to the pinnacle of UEFA competition after two years, the world champions will find out exactly where they stand

Your matchday briefing on Chelsea, featuring team news and expert analysis from Dom Smith

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Nothing underlines Chelsea’s return to Europe’s top table quite like a trip to the Allianz Arena.

It was there, 13 years ago, that the Blues lifted the Champions League for the first time, beating Bayern Munich in their own backyard.

Much has changed at Stamford Bridge since then. The Chelsea side that triumphed in 2012 was packed with experience, while today’s group has a youthful core.

The club have been absent from the Champions League for the past two seasons, and only 11 members of the current squad have played in it before. That is why captain Reece James, part of the team that won the competition under Thomas Tuchel in 2021, will be so important.

“The club has had change [since winning the Champions League in 2021] but I wouldn’t necessarily say that’s a bad thing as we qualified for this competition last season and went on to win two trophies,” said James.

“With the changes, we started slowly but last season we came on leaps and bounds.”

A clash with Bayern Munich will show Chelsea exactly how far they have come.

Skipper: Reece James’ Champions League-winning experience could prove crucial to Chelsea’s campaign

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Bayern, crowned Bundesliga champions under Vincent Kompany last season, have begun this campaign in fine form, scoring 14 goals in their first three league matches.

Despite that famous defeat in 2012, they also boast an impressive record against Chelsea - and only Barcelona have beaten the Blues more often in the Champions League.

“I think Bayern Munich is a team that showed last year that they are very close and they can compete to win this competition. This is my view,” said Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca.

“I see them together with three or four more clubs as one of the favourites for this competition.”

Chelsea showed last season they have made huge strides under Maresca, a point reinforced by winning the Club World Cup in the summer. A productive transfer window has followed, fuelling belief they can challenge both at home and in Europe.

How they juggle those demands will be crucial. Last season, Maresca was able to rotate heavily during the Europa Conference League league phase. Indeed, Cole Palmer was not even added to the squad until the knockouts.

Full strength: Chelsea can ill afford to rotate in the Champions League

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This time there will be no such luxury, a point made clear by this week’s schedule. After Bayern tonight, Chelsea must get ready to head to Old Trafford just three days later.

“It helps a lot if you are able to rotate players, especially probably at the beginning of the season,” said Maresca.

“You can probably go with the same one then. It is a long season, many games, so I think you have to do that because you are also safe players, avoid injury. But it is something that is dictated game by game. It is not something that you can plan because probably you plan something and then any problem or any injury is not possible.

“We are going to try to rotate players knowing that, as you said, the Champions League is a bit different from last season’s competition. We try every game, even against Brentford. We try with our best XI. Game by game we are going to manage different problems.”

Maresca hopes to have Cole Palmer available from the start tonight after he was only fit enough for the bench in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Brentford. In defence, Marc Cucurella is expected to return to the side after being among the substitutes at the weekend.

Cucurella could be tasked with stopping his former team-mate Nicolas Jackson, now on loan at Bayern and eligible to play against his parent club. Kompany has been coy about whether the striker will start, though he admitted it would be a “special game” for him.

After helping Chelsea get back to the Champions League, they will hope Jackson does not return to haunt them.