The day has arrived. Chelsea and Bayern Munich lock horns at the round of 16 stage in this season's Champions League.
This is one of four fixtures that will shape Frank Lampard's first season as Blues head coach. His side have already lost to Manchester United, but beaten Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and early next month there's the small matter of an FA Cup fifth round meeting against Jurgen Klopp's seemingly invincible Liverpool side.
Up next is the visit of the reigning Bundesliga champions who are seeking revenge from losing in the final in their own stadium against the west London outfit in 2012.
Speaking of Bayern, they looked to have been facing somewhat of an injury crisis following confirmation that winger Ivan Perisic would certainly miss the game in west London.
This was confirmed by the Bundesliga giants at the beginning of the month ahead of their DFB Pokal tie against Hoffenheim.
A statement via the club's official website read: "FC Bayern will be without Ivan Perisic for the time being. The 31-year-old Croatia international sustained a fracture to his outer ankle during training on Tuesday.
"The ankle has to be screwed together. It will take around four weeks for the injury to heal, then he'll begin recovery training," confirmed Bayern coach Hansi Flick.
"It's not easy for us at this moment in time because Ivan has been in very good form, and his dynamism and experience have helped us a lot."
Perisic joins long-term absentee Niklas Sule as two of three players who won't feature in west London and the latter won't play in the return game either as he's not expected back until May at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the Croatia international could be back for the second leg at the Allianz Arena provided he suffers no set-backs in his recovery.
Javi Martinez has returned to training ahead of the first-leg, but has not been risked.
On Monday afternoon, the Bundesliga leaders confirmed a 19-man squad for the game at Stamford Bridge.
As expected, the likes of Manuel Neuer, Thiago, Thomas Muller, David Alaba, ex-Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry and former Liverpool attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho have all made the trip to the capital.
As has Robert Lewandowski - the leading scorer in the Champions League this season with 10 goals - who scored twice against Paderborn on Friday night and will be one to watch for the Blues.
