Can United get past Bayern? The smart money would say no, yet one fact stands in their favour: The dire recent record of German sides - including Bayern - at home to English teams.
This season, Bayern have already lost at home to Manchester City and drawn with Arsenal, while United beat Bayer Leverkusen 5-0 away, Chelsea defeated Schalke 3-0 and Arsenal came away from the cauldron of Dortmund's Westfalenstadion with a 1-0 win, just a fortnight after losing the return fixture in London 2-1.
Nor does the German winless run stop at six. Last year, Bayern romped to a 3-1 win away to Arsenal, yet found themselves nervously hanging on for an away goals win after losing 2-0 at home. Before that, they drew 1-1 but lost on penalties to Chelsea when their own Allianz Arena stadium hosted the 2012 Champions League final.
Given that Bayern's last three trips to England had brought victory, maybe United have good reason for optimism. After all, that gave the Bavarians a cushion to fall back on that they will not have this time. Defeat and elimination for the European champions is not likely, but it is far from the impossibility anticipated just a few days ago.
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