Nicolas Jackson will be eager to impress against his former club, and with Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Díaz providing a sensational attacking threat to go with Bayern Munich's UEFA Champions League pedigree, there are plenty of reasons the champions will beat Chelsea in their league phase opener...
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1) Jackson out to haunt parent club
Football has an incredible habit of throwing up its own remarkable plotlines. While a will-he-or-won't-he saga culminated in attack talent Jackson arriving in Munich on an initial loan deal late on Transfer Deadline Day, the Champions League draw the previous week determined that his first European night in a Bayern jersey will come against his parent club, Chelsea.
The encounter will surprisingly be the 24-year-old Senegal international's first appearance in Europe's elite club competition. Three goals in a mere 170 minutes of action in the UEFA Conference League last season for the Blues leave no doubt that his ferocious finishing can make an impact on the continental stage - the third of those strikes being the goal that put Chelsea 2-1 up in the second half of the final against Real Betis in Wroclaw.
2) Some front three too
Jackson is just the latest exciting element of an attack that already looks seriously frightening for opposing defences in the Bundesliga and the league phase of the Champions League. Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Díaz have rocketed out of the blocks with 11 goals between them in the opening three Bundesliga matchdays.
Kane's tally of 40 career goals in the competition leaves him on the verge of joining the top 20 all-time Champions League goalscorers, wing wizard Olise has built on a sensational first season in Bavaria, and summer signing Díaz has settled in immediately to add an extra dimension to Bayern's forward line. Just where Jackson can fit into that mix remains to be seen, but it leaves Bayern with a near embarrassment of attacking riches ready to make their mark on Europe.
Bayern's front three have impressed this term. - IMAGO/Midori Ikenouchi/Hasan Bratic/DeFodi Images
3) Super start to season
A summer always brings question marks in football amid the annual flurry of transfers and new coaches up and down the league, but there has been an unmistakable sense of serenity in Munich this time around. Bayern coach Vincent Kompany is cutting an increasingly confident figure in the dugout after winning the Bundesliga title in his first season - and after recruiting Bayer Leverkusen defensive stalwart Jonathan Tah, the champions are looking sharper at both ends of the field.
Bayern's results have aided the feelgood mood - a 2-1 win in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup against VfB Stuttgart, a 6-0 trouncing of RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga's opening encounter and a 3-2 success in Augsburg the following weekend. Their 5-0 Matchday 3 triumph over Hamburg will give Bayern belief they can beat Chelsea at home.
Watch: Bayern Munich 6-0 RB Leipzig - highlights
4) Bayern are Champions League masters
Bayern's European pedigree is undeniable. They are six-time winners of the competition, after all, and have been in every edition of the tournament since 2008/09. They have also reached the quarter-finals in each of the last six seasons, and have lost just one of their previous 20 home matches in the competition.
Chelsea have won the Champions League twice, most recently in 2021, but have not featured in either of the past two seasons. Bayern's more recent experience on the biggest stage could well be a decisive factor, while the visitors face the pressure of returning to the continental top tier.
Bayern have enjoyed plenty of success in the Champions League. - Peter Schatz
5) History lesson
Bayern do not suffer many defeats, but few hurt more than when they were beaten by Chelsea in the 2012 showpiece. In front of their own supporters, the scene was set for the Bavarians to beat a Blues outfit that had perhaps ridden their luck to reach the final. However, it was the London side who prevailed, absorbing plenty of pressure before winning on penalties after Didier Drogba had cancelled out Thomas Müller's late opener.
As such, every match against Chelsea is a chance to exercise demons of that night in Munich, and they have beaten them in each of the three games they have played since. The last meeting was a 4-1 victory in the 2019/20 Champions League, which Bayern went on to win - they would undoubtedly take a similar scenario here.