Arsene Wenger has some big choices to make in the next few days about which Arsenal players will be in the starting line up on Tuesday night, when the German Bundesliga champions come to town for the first of two back to back games that will probably decide our fate in the Champions League this season.
The boss admitted after yesterday’s win, as reported by Arsenal.com, that the Premier League game at Watford took full priority and that his team selection did not take Bayern into account. But he also said that winning yesterday was the best way to prepare for this key European game as we will now be confident and on a roll.
Wenger said, “I told you in the press conference that for me the important game was today because I knew that first of all to win today was vital to stay in touch with the top teams. Secondly, the best way to prepare for Tuesday night is to win today.
“I don’t know yet [about rotating] but obviously there is no obvious reason to change completely the team. Maybe one or two I do not know yet. We will have to see how everybody recovers. I could rest a little bit Ozil and Sanchez and we have of course to put pace into this game and play against a big team, but we know we have proved ourselves in the Champions League. We want to make something special against Bayern Munich as it is the only way we can keep in the race.”
The Frenchman also revealed that the injury problem, supposedly some minor surgery, that kept Gabriel out of the matchday squad this weekend would not rule him out of the UCL clash. Le Prof said: “He should be available for Tuesday. He had a good training session before we left at our training ground and he looks alright.” That is great news for Arsenal and I expect to see the Brazilian defender come back into the side. I don´t think he will rest many players, but Laurent Koscielny will surely be one of them.
While Wenger did not have one eye on Bayern, he will have one eye on Everton, our next Premier League opponents, and the league games to come. With Koscielny having just returned from a hamstring problem and with the France international having struggled with niggling problems in recent years, I cannot see Wenger risking his best defender. Can you?