Reprising the 1982 European Cup final, Aston Villa and Bayern Munich will meet more than 42 years later in this season's Champions League, as the German giants visit Villa Park on Wednesday.
Both sides emphatically won their first league-phase fixture on the opening matchday, with Villa striking three times in Switzerland and Bayern smashing nine past Dinamo Zagreb.
Match preview
© Imago
As fate would have it, Aston Villa's first home game in Europe's top competition since 1983 brings the English club together with the illustrious opponents they conquered one year earlier in Rotterdam.
In the teams' only previous meeting, Villa beat the Bavarian side 1-0 to be crowned continental champions, and they now approach this week's contest on the back of a 3-0 victory on their Champions League debut.
The Villans overcame a sticky start to see off Young Boys in Bern, as Youri Tielemans, Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana all found the net to wrap up what was ultimately a convincing win.
The only Premier League side to win their first two games in the competition since its overhaul in 1992 was another Midlands club, Leicester City in 2016, but that will be their aim in front of a sell-out crowd on Wednesday.
At the weekend, Villa were set for a seventh win in eight matches - and second spot in the league table - but they let a 2-1 lead slip to draw with newly promoted Ipswich Town and instead occupy fifth place.
In addition to their remarkable rise under Unai Emery on the domestic scene, the Birmingham club won their first six home fixtures en route to last season's Conference League semi-finals, as they returned to UEFA competition for the first time in 13 years.
A proven past master in Europe, Emery has already beaten Bayern Munich on two occasions and has only lost three of his 20 group games in the Champions League. However, one of those defeats did come against Bayern in 2017, while in charge of Paris Saint-Germain.
© Imago
While their first hosts in the new-look league phase were comprehensive winners on the opening matchday, Bayern Munich went a few steps further by kicking off their latest campaign with a record-setting home win.
Die Roten are now the only team to net nine times during one game in the Champions League proper, also recording 19 shots on target - another competition record.
That 9-2 crushing of Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb - aided by four strikes from Harry Kane - has helped Bayern reach 30 goals from Vincent Kompany's first seven matches, as they made a scintillating start to the 2024-25 season.
Although Kompany's 100% record ended with a 1-1 draw against reigning Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen - behind whom Bayern finished third last term, some 18 points adrift - recent results have increased belief that the Meisterschale will be heading back to Bavaria next spring.
Meanwhile, in the Champions League, the six-time European champions are unbeaten in no fewer than 41 group stage matches, winning 37 times in the process since September 2017.
Having also reached the quarter-finals or better in 12 of their last 13 campaigns, they will expect to finish in the top eight this season and avoid a potentially tricky playoff, so securing victory at Villa Park is certainly on their agenda.
Team News
© Imago
Unai Emery has been without his captain John McGinn for Aston Villa's last two matches due to a hamstring injury, and the Scottish star will now miss Wednesday's game.
Matty Cash (thigh) is also ruled out, while long-term absentees Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara have both returned to full training but neither is ready to feature for the first team.
With Leon Bailey recently back in the fold, Villa's attacking options are unaffected by absences: Jhon Duran has four goals as a substitute this season and is level with star striker Ollie Watkins - who scored again on Sunday - as Villa's top marksman thus far.
Morgan Rogers created four chances from open play on his Champions League debut - the most by an English player on their first appearance since Danny Welbeck in 2009 - and he netted his first Premier League goal of the season last weekend.
Meanwhile, Michael Olise has racked up five goals from his last four Bayern Munich matches, while Harry Kane's recent strike against Werder Bremen was his 41st in the Bundesliga, surpassing Jadon Sancho's record as the German top flight's most prolific Englishman.
After causing concern by limping off late on against Leverkusen with an ankle injury, he is expected to start. Kane has been directly involved in seven goals from six previous games at Villa Park, netting the game-winner twice.
Elsewhere, veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer started on Saturday, having overcome a thigh problem; however, Sacha Boey and Josip Stanisic (both knee) and summer signing Hiroki Ito (foot) are still unavailable.
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; Bailey, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Guerreiro, Upamecano, Kim, Davies; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Musiala, Gnabry; Kane
We say: Aston Villa 1-2 Bayern Munich
Bayern bulldoze their way past most opposition in Europe, and even a bouyant Aston Villa side will not stand in their way this week.
Villa's back line remains vulnerable, so Kane, Olise and co can score more than once in Birmingham and move on to six points from six in the league table.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
