Why Bayern Munich can win the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League
Bayern Munich are into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals following their dominant 10-2 aggregate win over Atalanta. The Bavarians are currently firing on all cylinders going into their next clash with long-time rivals Real Madrid and have every reason to believe they will stand on the top step of Europe’s podium in May.
Bayern were once again in irresistible form as they put Atalanta to the sword over two legs, having 25 shots in each game and hitting 10 goals in total across 6-1 and 4-1 victories.
It is easy to forget that Atalanta were the team who ended Borussia Dortmund’s hopes with a magnificent second-leg turnaround in the play-off stage. But Vincent Kompany's men ensured there was never an ounce of doubt about their progress.
Now they have to take on old European rivals Real Madrid in the quarter-finals. And there's arguably no team better placed right now to oust the record Champions League winners.
More than anything, Bayern’s attack is the best in Europe now. No player on the continent has scored as many as Harry Kane’s 47 goals in all competitions - from only 39 appearances - while summer signing Luis Díaz and Michael Olise have more than chipped in with 22 and 15 respectively.
The latter also leads Europe for assists in 2025/26 with 25 across all competitions, while the Colombian has contributed 15 provisions of his own for the pair to be the most prolific wing duo in top-level football right now.
Watch: Olise under the tactical spotlight
As a team, they have found the back of the net a remarkable 139 times across all competitions, averaging 3.39 goals per game. For context, Arsenal, who sit top of the Premier League and won every game in the Champions League league phase, have netted on 114 occasions in 49 outings at a rate of 2.33 strikes per match. Barcelona are the closest challengers for goals with 124 across 45 fixtures (2.76).
Even beyond the headline acts of Kane, Olise and Díaz, Kompany can call upon Jamal Musiala, Serge Gnabry, Nicolas Jackson and Lennart Karl to unlock opposition defences. Wherever you look in this Bayern squad, there are goals, making them predictably ruthless every time they step onto the field.
Watch: A Kane-less Bayern still put four goals past Gladbach in March
That has led to eye-catching consistency. Bayern started the season by setting a record for the most consecutive wins at the start of a campaign across all competitions in Europe (16), and while they have obviously been unable to maintain that unprecedented pace, they have failed to win just five games in 2025/26.
Of course, keeping goals out at the other end is equally important. Bayern's defence may not be imperious, conceding 41 goals across 41 fixtures, but it's still an excellent record. Of all teams competing in the Champions League this season, only Arsenal have let in (slightly) less (39).
As such, the Bundesliga leaders are deadly at both ends of the pitch, and coupled with their European pedigree, they should be an incredibly difficult proposition to come up against.
Real Madrid are the only side remaining in the tournament to have won it more frequently than Bayern’s six times, with as many as seven members of the squad that won the Champions League in 2020 still plying their trade at the Allianz Arena.
Since that last continental triumph, Bayern have reached at least the quarter-finals in every Champions League edition. In 2023/24, only a last-gasp turnaround from Real at the Santiago Bernabéu prevented the record German champions from reaching the final against Dortmund. Quite frankly, Bayern are due another appearance in the showpiece in May.
But don’t just take our word for it. Instead, read the thoughts of two of the best strikers to play the game, Alessandro del Piero and Thierry Henry – both of whom know what it takes to win this trophy – on Bayern’s chances.
Following the Atalanta first leg, Del Piero said, "They are incredible. I think they are the best team at the moment. A few months ago, Arsenal had the upper hand. But now the situation has changed.”
While Henry claimed, “I think they are significantly more balanced than, for example, Barcelona. They know what they have to do. They press well. They are very difficult to beat."
Just like in 2019/20, history is on the line for Bayern, with another treble well on the cards. As impressive as they've been so far this term, they know nothing is won yet and they need to maintain their level if they're to earn the rewards that their efforts undoubtedly deserve in 2025/26.
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