There is no doubt that Arsenal are up against it in the Champions League, after lady luck delivered another swift kick to our nether regions when the draw for the next round of Europe’s top club competition was made before the festive period.
After trying and failing for years to win our qualifying group the Gunners finally came out on top this season by pipping the French champions PSG in the final round of games, only to be rewarded by a knockout round against the German Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. Cheers.
We could also have got Real Madrid I suppose but with a bit of luck it could have been a team like Benfica, Porto. Leverkusen or Sevilla. And to add to the problems facing Arsenal we have Metro reporting that the Bayern and Poland international striker Robert Lewandowski suggesting that their struggles in the Bundesliga this season will have no bearing on the Champions League, as this is the trophy they are really trying to win.
Well I think Wenger and the Arsenal players should not lose a wink of sleep over the Pole’s warning. For one thing they clearly struggled in their UCL games as well because they came second in their own group. For another they are not in the best of form right now and only managed to win their league game against lowly relegation material Ingolstadt with a goal in injury time.
And finally, we should remember that when Arsenal did get what we thought of as a good draw against Monaco, we managed to blow it, so let’s ignore the warnings and the odds shall we? Let’s just go and get past the Germans into the next round.
Bob.
When the draw was made I was in full spirit and thought this might actually be the year we take down Bayern as we were on a good run with OG, Theo, Sanchez and even Ozil banging in world class goals, Kostafi intact, and Coq and Xhaka forming a good partnership. Look at us now , February fever has caught Arsenal again, losing at home to Watford, scrapping through Hull at home and playing without any recognisable system or desire.
Miracles do happen in football and I will support this team till my last breath but truth be told this team has let us down continuously. Its just February and I am already looking forward to next season. It would be wise to take note of Bayern’s warning!
Midfield Xhaka, Elneny, Chambo.
Attack..Lucas, Danny, Alexis.
Bayern Munich are known to have more top players than Arsenal have as their squad price subjects. Therefore, Arsenal should be careful of them and heed to Lewandowski’s warning so that the Gunners don’t start conceding goals during the playing of the match over there.
But Arsenal can beat Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night if Le Prof will make the correct starts and bench that can efficiently contain anything Bayern have on offer to throw against them and hit them on the counters decisively to score at least 2-3 goals and defend resolutely as a team to deny Bayern Munich scoring any goal in the match.
In this wise, it will be important for every Gunner who will be involved in this match to be at full match concentration. Any momentary loss of concentration or any sloppiness in playing that will result in giving the ball away could be severally punished by Bayern whose attackers can be as deadly sharped as the razorblade. In particular, if selected to play, Walcott and Iwobi should not be clumsy in defending but must be tracking back adequately to give defensive cover and support to the team. More so when our two wing backs are on the offensive. And Walcott should be alertful in receiving passes correct when the ball is passed to him so that he doesn’t lose it unnecessarily. All shooting Gunners at goal should try to be clinical in their shooting to gaol to score. And they should also try to convert half chances to goals too. It’s also important for Sanchez not to indulge in over dribbling on the ball in the game, but only for him to see him lose possession afterwards. He should try as much as possible to pass the ball in time and accurately to his colleagues who are at vantage positions waiting to receive his pass. And finally, the Gunners defending MUST block the two Bayern’s talismem of the tireless and dribbling Adjern Robbin and the attacking threatener Lewandowski from wrecking any damage directly or indirectly against us in the game.
u should be wengers replacement