Cole Palmer and Marc Cucurella will return to the Chelsea starting lineup against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League tie at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.

Chelsea will aim to kick-start the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign on a high when they lock horns with Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night. Enzo has no new injury concerns to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.

Levi Colwill (knee), Dario Essugo (hamstring) and Liam Delap (ankle) remain on the sidelines. Additionally, Maresca is sweating over the fitness of Benoit Badiashile, Romeo Lavia, and Estevao Willian. Meanwhile, there has been an update on Chelsea’s squad for the first phase of the UEFA Champions League, as they have added Facundo Buonanotte to the group due to Essugo’s injury.

However, Mykhailo Mudryk continues serving a suspension after failing a doping test several months ago. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Maresca did not provide fitness updates on any player. However, the Italian tactician confirmed the goalkeeper who would start between the sticks on Wednesday.

The Chelsea manager said, “In every game, such as against Brentford, we try with our best XI. In the last game, Cole wasn’t 100 per cent fit to play 90 minutes and different players were out, such as Estevao [Willian], for instance. Tomorrow, we will put out our best XI for the game. Cole three days ago didn’t play from the start because he wasn’t able to do that, so we will see tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, Rob will start, but for sure with the amount of games we have Filip is going to play games in the Premier League, Champions League, the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. We have so many games and, for sure, Robert cannot play all of them.”

As Maresca confirmed, Robert Sanchez will retain his spot between the sticks, with Chelsea lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Bayern Munich on Wednesday. The backline will feature Reece James, Tosin Adarabioyo, Trevoh Chalobah, and Marc Cucurella.

As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez in the double pivot. Cole Palmer will reprise the no. 10 role, with Pedro Neto and Jamie Gittens being the two wide attackers. Finally, Joao Pedro will lead the line for the away side against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

Predicted Chelsea XI: Sanchez; James, Tosin, Chalobah, Cucurella; Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Gittens; Joao Pedro