Bayern Munich begin their 2024/25 Champions League campaign on Tuesday evening, hosting Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb at the Allianz Arena.
The Bundesliga behemoths reached the semi-final of the competition last season and were just minutes away from setting up a Klassiker final with Borussia Dortmund before falling to a late defeat at Real Madrid.
However, this season marks a new beginning for Bayern under former Burnley manager Vincent Kompany. The fairly inexperienced coach has made the dream start in Bavaria, winning all of his competitive fixtures to date. The most recent triumph was a 6-1 thrashing of newly promoted Holstein Kiel on Saturday.
Dinamo Zagreb didn’t enjoy such a positive outing in their most recent clash on Friday, losing to Hajduk Split 1-0 on derby day. The result leaves them third in the Croatian first division after six matches and without a win in two games.
Here is 90min’s guide to Bayern’s Champions League opener.
Location: Munich, Germany
Stadium: Allianz Arena
Date: Tuesday 17 September
Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT
Referee: Juan Martinez Munuera (SPA)
VAR: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (SPA)
Current form (all competitions)
How to watch Bayern Munich vs Dinamo Zagreb on TV and live stream
Bayern Munich team news
Kompany has an incredibly strong squad to choose from this Tuesday, although there are injuries in the Bayern camp. Summer recruit Hiroki Ito is still sidelined, while Josip Stanisic, Tarek Buchmann and Arijon Ibrahimovic are all out of action.
Leroy Sane returned to the bench on Saturday and should be able to play some part against Dinamo Zagreb. Harry Kane netted a hat-trick, Jamal Musiala scored after 15 seconds and Michael Olise grabbed his first competitive Bayern goal in the victory over Holstein Kiel.
Bayern Munich predicted lineup vs Dinamo Zagreb
Bayern Munich predicted lineup vs Dinamo Zagreb (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Boey, Upamecano, Kim, Davies; Kimmich, Palhinha; Olise, Musiala, Coman; Kane.
Dinamo Zagreb team news
Sergej Jakirovic has a few dilemmas ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Germany following two matches without victory. Admittedly, they were fixtures against Dinamo’s biggest rivals for the title this season.
Former Juventus winger Marko Pjaca could feature from the start and Bruno Petkovic will lead the line. However, Jakirovic has to decide how defensive he wants his set-up to be at the other end of the pitch, with Dinamo normally favouring a 4-2-3-1 system.
Dinamo Zagreb predicted lineup vs Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): Nevistic; Ristovski, Theophile-Catherine, Mmaee, Pierre-Gabriel; Sucic, Ademi; Kulenovic, Baturina, Pjaca; Petkovic.
Bayern Munich vs Dinamo Zagreb score prediction
So far, so good for Kompany at Bayern, with four competitive fixtures to kick off his reign in Munich. The 6-1 victory at the weekend saw the German giants flex their attacking muscles, with 11 goals in their first three Bundesliga matches.
The terrifying attacking quality that Bayern possess will undoubtedly spell trouble for Dinamo Zagreb this Tuesday, despite Jakirovic’s side boasting a fairly strong defensive record early in the season. They can dream of a point or more in Bavaria, but it’s likely to be defeat for Dinamo.
