Key events
16 mins: Lazio get upfield and Immobileâs diagonal ball out to Isaksen is deflected out for a throw in. From there, Guendouzi gets to the byline and wins a corner â¦
14 mins: Kimmichâs cross is brought down by Musiala, who is penalised for nudging Marusic out of his path. Kane hits the post with the loose ball, but the whistle had already gone.
13 mins: Mullerâs attempted scoop into Kaneâs path is just overhit as Bayern seek the right combination to unlock this defence.
Itâs still goalless in Paris â you can follow PSG v Real Sociedad over here with Barry Glendenning.
11 mins: Neuer collects the ball under pressure from Immobile. Itâs been a fairly even start, albeit with Bayern carving out the two clearest chances.
9 mins: Musiala, who is stationed on the left wing, gets forward and his cross is deflected behind for a corner â from which Mazraoui shanks an awkward half-volley wide.
8 mins: Luis Alberto goes down rubbing his knee in midfield, although it doesnât look like anything too serious.
6 mins: A first sight of goal for Kane, picked out brilliantly by Mullerâs volleyed cross but just unable to keep his shot down as the ball flashed into his path.
5 mins: A chipped delivery into the box doesnât ruffle any feathers and although Lazio win the ball back, it ends up floating through to Neuer.
4 mins: Lazio patiently move the ball around before Isaksen cuts infield and is brought down by Goretzka. Free kick for the hosts â¦
2 mins: Bayern, who are in their futuristic black and purple away kits, get the first opportunity. Sane cuts back to the edge of the area, where Goretzka sends a first-time shot wide of the far post.
Peep!
Weâre under way to a dramatic backdrop of flags and flares.
A late change for Lazio: Vecino was injured in the warm-up so Cataldi gets his place back in midfield. Thereâs a raucous atmosphere inside the Stadio Olimpico as Lazio fans unveil a huge silvery tifo covering one end of the stadium.
And hereâs Lazio midfielder Luis Alberto: âWe must not be afraid; to play these Champions League games, you need to have a clear head. We must play our game and play with personality, as we know it will be difficult. If we leave them space, with the players they have, they will do a lot of damage.â
Thomas Tuchel with some pre-game thoughts: âWe prepared in a very normal way, training first on the attacking phase and today on defending. We faced various situations, trying not to put excessive pressure on ourselves.
âThe objective was to give the players the necessary information to prepare for a match like this. We do not need more pressure on such important nights.â
âIâve put â¬2 on Lazio and all the soccer scribes make me feel itâs money down the drain,â writes John Mackenzie. âBut Iâm hoping Captain Ciro will bang a couple in and prove them wrong!â
Thomas Tuchel has scrapped the 3-4-3 setup which led to defeat at Leverkusen, switching back to a more familiar 4-2-3-1 formation. Eric Dier drops to the bench and Raphael Guerreiro is preferred to Sacha Boey at left-back, with Alphonso Davies injured. Joshua Kimmich and Thomas Müller, both on the bench for Saturdayâs game, also return to the starting line-up.
Maurizio Sarri makes one change from the team that won 3-1 at Cagliari in Serie A on Saturday, with Matias Vecino replacing Danilo Cataldi in midfield. The Lazio line-up has plenty of experience, a couple of emerging talents in Mario Gila and winger Gustav Isaksen, and plenty of names familiar to Premier League viewers, from Felipe Anderson and Matteo Guendouzi to Pedro, who starts on the bench.
Team news
Lazio (4-3-3): Provedel; Marusic, Mario Gila, Romagnoli, Hysaj; Guendouzi, Vecino, Luis Alberto; Isaksen, Immobile (c), Felipe Anderson.
Subs: Sepe, Magro, Patric, Casale, Cataldi, Kamada, Napolitano, Lazzari, Castellanos, Pedro.
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): Neuer (c); Mazraoui, Upamecano, Kim, Guerreiro; Kimmich, Goretzka; Sané, Müller, Musiala; Kane.
Subs: Ulreich, Schmitt, De Ligt, Dier, Boey, Tel, Pavlovic, Choupo-Moting, Zaragoza.
Preamble
Itâs a big night for football lovers, but there may not be much in the way of romance in Rome this evening. In town tonight are Bayern Munich, the kind of merciless winning machine whose every blip brings gasps of excitement from neutrals. Those malfunctions are becoming more frequent these days, and the last decade has seen just one Champions League final appearance, when they beat PSG at an empty Estádio da Luz in 2020.
Still, that is more than their hosts tonight have ever managed, and a glance at the outright odds (Bayern are 5-1, Lazio 150-1) suggests that even a half-baked Bayern side should be hot favourites to progress. Lazio finished second to Napoli in Serie A last season but like the champions, have struggled to repeat those heroics this term. Currently eighth in the table, Maurizio Sarriâs side have been consistently inconsistent, and would have hoped for a more navigable last-16 tie than this.
While the trophy has slipped through their grasp several times, Bayern have reached at least the quarter-finals in every season since 2010-11, save for a last-16 exit to Liverpool in 2019. Lazio last reached the Champions Leagueâs last eight in the year 2000, and lost 6-2 to Bayern at this stage in 2020-21. History and form suggest a similar outcome this time, but true football romantics will still believe anything is possible. Kick-off: 8pm GMT.