Lazio draw after Bayern win in top match

Bundesliga - Lazio draw after Bayern win in top match

After the Christmas party with a laser show and wearing red and white pointed caps, Bayern's stars around double packer Harry Kane received a nice present in the Champions League on top.

Lazio Rome is the comparatively low hurdle for Munich in the round of 16 of Europe's premier soccer league in the new year. "We've already had positive experiences with Lazio," said a satisfied Bayern captain Manuel Neuer the day after the 3-0 win over VfB Stuttgart. "We go into the games as favorites."

As group winners, Munich will play the first leg of the rematch of the round of 16 duel from the 2020/21 season in the Italian capital between February 13 and 21. The quarter-finalists will then be decided in Munich between March 5 and 13. "Rome, here we come," said a smiling Thomas Müller. The 34-year-old was looking forward to "an exciting city" and a "time-honored" Olympic Stadium. "So many battles have already been fought there," said the Bayern icon.

Bayern have already won clearly once

Just like three years ago with a 4:1 win in Rome and a 2:1 win in Munich, FC Bayern are once again the clear favorites against the team led by former BVB striker Ciro Immobile after a successful group stage with five wins and one draw. Munich were spared a quick and tricky reunion with Paris Saint-Germain and superstar Kylian Mbappé as in the round of 16 of the previous season.

"If our team brings what it showed against Stuttgart onto the pitch, then we don't need to be afraid of any opponent," said President Herbert Hainer after the demonstration of power against Stuttgart.

Neuer, who was beaming with joy as he waved a huge Bayern flag in front of a sea of smartphone lights during the lap of honor, summed up the year ahead of the final game at VfL Wolfsburg on Wednesday. "Apart from the cup exit, we're absolutely on target," said Neuer.

With a win in Wolfsburg and another in the catch-up game against 1. FC Union Berlin next year, "that would be a very good first half of the season," said the 37-year-old in what has been a very special comeback year for him. After "Jingle Bells" and "Silent Night" in the Allianz Arena following the clear victory, Müller also rejoiced: "Bayern's soul is very caressed."

Kane continues to rack up the goals

Even badly decimated and without midfield mainstays Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka for a short time, Munich did not let leaders Bayer Leverkusen get away. One week after the 1:5 debacle at Eintracht Frankfurt, the gap is still four points with one game less. "An important win after last week. We gave a great response," said Kane after "probably the best performance of the season". He shone once again: goals 19 and 20 in the league this season.

Lazio should be another stopover on the way to the longed-for final in Kane's native London on June 1 of next year. The next step is more difficult for Borussia Dortmund in their clash with PSV Eindhoven and even more so for RB Leipzig against Real Madrid. "They will be very attractive games, we're really looking forward to them," said Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund about their own knockout test.

Exciting question about new winter signings

There is much to suggest that winter reinforcements will be in the line-up for Bayern's knockout clash against coach Maurizio Sarri's side. "We will sit down over the next few days and think about what we will do in the winter," said supervisory board chairman Hainer.

However, nothing will be done just to replenish the squad, said Hainer. "We've done that a few times in the past. We realized that it didn't work and we certainly won't do that this time." The recent winter additions of Daley Blind and João Cancelo, for example, did not help as hoped.

Above all, the sparsely-staffed defense, from which goalscorer Minjae Kim stood out, is to be strengthened. "The squad is small, but on the other hand it gives people from the second tier the chance to show what they can do. They've done that brilliantly," said Hainer. As Aleksandar Pavlovic did, for example. It remains to be seen whether the 19-year-old home-grown talent will play again in Wolfsburg as a substitute for Kimmich or Goretzka.

"We played very well in the preliminary round," said Hainer. At the end of a wild year with changes of coach and board, the 69-year-old was looking forward to the new year even before the lucky draw with Lazio. "You can clearly see a positive development."