Breaking Down Bayern Munich's Champions League Chances Halfway Through Group

Halfway through their Group F campaign, Bayern Munich look to be favorites to qualify for the Champions League knockout rounds and indeed to win the title in May.

Even after losing to Arsenal on Tuesday, the Bavarians are a force to be reckoned with.

No club in Europe right now can boast the combination of goalkeeping, defensive, midfield and attacking talent the Bavarians have, nor their depth. At their very best, there is no better team in Europe.

At the moment, Bayern look to have the world's best goalkeeper (Manuel Neuer), left-back (David Alaba), center-back (Jerome Boateng), right-back (Philipp Lahm), and striker (Robert Lewandowski) in their first team.

Douglas Costa is one of the most in-form wingers in the world and has continually looked unstoppable. And despite his recent injuries, Arjen Robben is sure to be back at his world-class best sooner or later.

In midfield, Bayern have a true wizard in Thiago, who has few peers in terms of creative playmaking and dribbling skills.

Xabi Alonso is, arguably, the best deliverer of the ball in the world over long ranges. And Arturo Vidal is like the cement that holds everything together: From dribbling to passing, to attacking and defending, the Chilean can do it all.

In Thomas Muller, Bayern have a player with the spirit of a true champion, a unique type who may not be as flashy or showy as some of the game's other superstars, but who is one of the most decorated players in the game and has a remarkable knack for winning by doing anything necessary to get the desired result.

Alexander Hassenstein/Associated Press

Further on the depth chart at Bayern is Mario Gotze, who scored the winner in the 2014 World Cup final. There's World Cup and European Championship winner Javi Martinez, who was a key player in Bayern's treble run in 2013.

And one cannot count out 32-year-old Franck Ribery, who despite his injuries and advanced years cannot be written off just yet. He was a Ballon d'Or finalist less than two years ago, after all.

Even Bayern's youth players are champions. Kingsley Coman, at 19, has already been a part of winning teams in all three of his professional seasons thus far, whether for Paris Saint-Germain or Juventus, while 20-year-old Joshua Kimmich won the 2014 European Under-19 Championship with Germany.

Looking around Europe, most of the usual suspects are in trouble in some form or another. Barcelona have a magnificent attack, and Bayern will be acutely aware of this fact after last season's Champions League semifinal debacle. Yet both Liga giants are heavily reliant on superstars.

Real Madrid have been held to three draws in eight games in La Liga, with questions to be asked about the inconsistency of Cristiano Ronaldo. Beyond the Portuguese forward, others like Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale haven't exactly inspired terror among opposing defenses.

Barca, meanwhile, seem to be hit-or-miss. They are a bit less dependent on Lionel Messi than Real are on Ronaldo, but their method appears to be one to simply outgun their opponents.

The Catalan giants have conceded 11 goals in just eight games in the Spanish top flight; their prolific attack has usually been enough to see them to victory, but in two losses, they have failed to overcome the problem of their leaky defense. 

The Champions League holders cannot be underestimated, but it's rare that a team that so freely concedes is able to win a major international title.

Among the Italian clubs, last year's finalists Juventus have struggled to adapt to the losses of players like Vidal, Carlos Tevez and Andrea Pirlo over the summer, and they are now languishing in mid-table anonymity in Serie A.

They truly have quality in their ranks and have shown this much in the Champions League. Yet as the season draws closer to its end, Juventus may be much more concerned with making a run for a top-three finish in Serie A than with performing in Europe.

Among the English sides, Chelsea are in somewhat of a crisis now and don't look to be serious contenders, especially after their recent draw with Dynamo Kiev.

Manchester United have a strong side but lack a bit of quality in defense, and despite the brilliance of Anthony Martial, they have yet to get the best out of important players like Wayne Rooney and new signing Memphis Depay.

Manchester City look to be a top club, but their midfield pales in comparison to that of Bayern, who have had their number again and again in the Champions League in recent years. It's hard to see that changing in the coming months.

Among the top challengers, that only leaves Paris Saint-Germain. The French side are a bit of a wild card, having enormous talent but with only intermittent tests at the highest level.

PSG remain dark horses until they prove themselves in the Champions League. And a big concern they will have is over the form of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who, at 34, doesn't quite look the player he was a couple of years ago.

Form can be a fickle thing, though, and this is not the first time in recent seasons that Bayern have looked to be Europe's best club early in a season.

In October of 2013, the then-treble holders humiliated eventual Premier League champions Manchester City with a 3-1 win at their Etihad Stadium home. And they later won the Bundesliga title in record form. Yet Bayern failed to show up when it mattered in the Champions League and lost 5-0 on aggregate to Real Madrid in the semifinals.

Kerstin Joensson/Associated Press

Bayern's fortunes were somewhat similar a year later, with Barcelona effectively ending the tie following a 3-0 first-leg win in the semifinals despite Bayern having beaten Roma 7-1 at the Stadio Olimpico in the group stage and dominating the Bundesliga throughout the season.

If there is one area where Bayern can foreseeably be in danger of failing, it's in their play away from home. The team that won the treble in 2012 was dominant on the road against big clubs like Juventus and Barcelona. 

Yet the current team have won just one and lost four of their last six away games in the Champions League, with the Arsenal result a reminder that they still have yet to solve the problem of disappointing on the road.

Getting results away from home has always been tough for Guardiola, whose record in such games in Champions League knockout rounds stands at just three wins in 15 knockout round away legs during his career as Barcelona and Bayern coach.

This statistic didn't stop him from winning the Champions League twice with Barca, but that team was one of the best of all time.

Poor results away from home doomed Bayern in the semifinals in 2014 and particularly earlier this year. Failure to improve their away form in 2016 could spell disaster again.

The real question is whether the Arsenal result will be a lesson, like the 3-1 loss to BATE Borisov was in the group stage before Bayern won the 2013 Champions League, or if it will be more of a prophesy of what is to come. That is in Guardiola's hands.

Bayern's individual quality alone should see them reach the quarter-finals at the very least, after which time issues like form (especially for the away leg), fitness and tactics will be critical. All these factors remain somewhat in the stars.

However, Bayern will be at peak motivation to reach the final after two consecutive semifinal disappointments. And in spite of their faults, they are no weaker than any of the other contenders.

Time will tell whether Bayern will stand atop Europe's club hierarchy come May, but the odds of their success are as good as any.

@Mr_Bundesliga