It can be an advantage that Bayern have Nicolas Jackson ahead of Chelsea game – Enzo Maresca

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca says Bayern Munich could gain a minor edge in Wednesday night’s Champions League tie at the Allianz Arena because of the inside knowledge Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson has of his former club.

The 24-year-old, who led the Blues’ attack last season, will face his parent side for the first time since sealing a loan move to Germany on deadline day.

Jackson’s transfer to Bayern was one of the summer window’s biggest stories, a £14.2 million temporary switch with a £56.2 million obligation to buy if he reaches a high number of appearances.

The move only went through after tense final negotiations, triggered when Chelsea’s new forward Liam Delap sustained a hamstring injury just as Jackson was in Munich awaiting clearance.

Maresca, however, played down any sense of animosity as he prepared for the reunion.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Group Stage opener, he acknowledged the forward’s potential to offer Bayern tactical insight.

“It can probably can be a small advantage [to Kompany] because he can ask Nicolas the way we work, the way we try to prepare a game,” he said.

“At the end, Nicolas was with us for one entire season so he knows exactly the way we approach games. But at the end, we see.”

Jackson left Stamford Bridge after slipping down the pecking order following the arrivals of Delap and João Pedro.

With the Allianz Arena set for a sold-out crowd, the match brings an early European test for Maresca’s side and the intrigue of seeing how much of an advantage, if any, Jackson’s insider knowledge could give Bayern in one of the marquee fixtures of the Champions League opening round.