Valencia and Bayern Munich will face-off in the most crucial match of Group F for any team.
A win does not guarantee anything for either side as it is still possible for three teams to wind up with 12 points in this group. If Munich wins in this match, they automatically have the advantage on Valencia by virtue of tie breakers. But a loss hurts them badly and essentially guarantees Valencia a spot in the next round. The reason for this is that if Bayern were to win their next match against BATE and Valencia were to lose theirs, Valencia and Bayern would both leave with 12 points. However, a win for Munich barely does little for their cause as a pair of BATE wins and a Valencia win over Lille would leave all three sides with 12 points.
Valencia would have won the tie breaker on points earned in matches against BATE Borisov while they would lose the tiebreaker to Bayern Munich. If BATE eat Bayern, then they win the same tie breaker and the next tie breaker would come down to goal differential in matches between teams in question. Valencia has a comfortable +5 goal differential against BATE while a -1 goal differential heading into the final match with Munich. As indicated, this group can get rather messy unless Lille shocks BATE or Valencia manages a win over Munich.
The German champs are coming off a 6-1 UCL drubbing of Lille and reinstated themselves as the top team in the group. They did draw 1-1 over the weekend against Nurnburg, but have a firm seven point lead in Germany. The one thing working against Munich in this match is that they are on the road against a team that has not lost at home all season.
Valencia for their part know a win puts them through and should play a rousing match at home in front of their fans. They are coming off a 2-1 win over Espanyol in the Spanish League and currently sit in 16th place.
Prediction: Bayern should squeeze out a win no matter what. 2-1 Munich.
Start Time: 2:45 p.m. EST
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
