It is the third time in five years that Arsenal have faced Germany’s biggest club in the Champions League Round of 16 teams and the previous two occasions have gone the way of Munich, as it always has in European competition when the pair have met over two legs.
Overall it is a remarkable six years in a row that Arsenal have crashed out a this stage although as group winners, this time they at least have the advantage of playing the second leg at the Emirates. Nevertheless, Arsene Wenger was clearly feeling the tension.
“Thank you for reminding me of the bad history but let’s focus on the future,” he rapped when reminded of those defeats in 2013 and 2014. “We just have to focus on the performance. We know we play against Bayern, who basically listening to you, is favourite.
“That means we have to be very positive and be on the fighting front and the playing front at the level that is requested tomorrow.”
However the Germans believe that it is Arsenal’s positivity that will play right into their hands as they look to improve on a lucky win at the weekend against defensive-minded relegation-threatened Ingolstadt.
“It’s not always so easy, for example against Ingolstadt at weekend, but Arsenal is a team who want to play,” goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said. “We will get more space.
“We’re a team who like to circulate the ball and take advantage of these spaces. That’s why I think for the fans it will be nice to watch.”
Wenger has dropped Petr Cech in favour of usual Champions League stand-in David Ospina but played down suggestions he himself raised at the weekend that he could go into the game without Germany playmaker Mesut Ozil due to a dip in confidence.
“I will pick the team tomorrow morning and I have no doubt that since we play in Germany Ozil is highly focused to have a good performance tomorrow,” Wenger said.
“Ozil has been playing for us for many years now and he knows perfectly our team and he knows how we want to play in every match. So it is an important match.” And for all the negativity surrounding recent league form, Wenger is determined to draw on what thus far has been a relatively successful campaign.
“We have gone through the group stage and not lost a game yet,” he said.
“We had very difficult teams in our group stage – we had Paris St Germain and we could deal with them, who are one of the favourites as well.
“Let’s focus on what we want to do and not too much on what people say and think. It is really down to our performance.”
PROBABLE TEAMS:
BAYERN (4-3-3): Neuer; Alaba, Martinez, Hummels, Lahm; Vidal, Alonso, Thiago; Robben, Lewandowski, Muller.
ARSENAL: (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Monreal, Koscielny, Mustafi, Bellerin; Xhaka, Coquelin; Sanchez, Ozil, Walcott; Giroud.
REFEREE: Milorad Mazi? (SRB)
