The 2021/22 season marks the sixth time Red Bull Munich have competed in the Champions Hockey league and the fourth time for Fribourg-Gottéron.

Back in 2016/17, both teams were in the same group and both advanced with nine ponts each. The home team won each of their head-to-head meetings – Fribourg 3-0 and Munich 3-1 – and therefore Fribourg won the tiebreaker and finished first based on better aggregate score between the two. That year, Fribourg went all the way to the Semi-Finals, where they were stopped by eventual Champions Frölunda Gothenburg.

That marks the farthest Fribourg have ever gone in the competition, whereas Munich have done them one round better, reaching the Final in 2018/19 where they were also beaten by Frölunda.

This season, Fribourg were the team of the Group Stage, as the Swiss side became the first team in CHL history to end the first round with a perfect 18 points and a +18 goal difference. Despite finishing second in their group, Munich were no slouches either at +12.

Domestically, both are in fine form as well - Fribourg are sitting second in the Swiss NL and Munich are also in second place on the DEL standings. Maybe Fribourg have looked a bit stronger this year, but Munich’s roster has experienced more CHL success making this one of the most intriguing matchups of the Round of 16.