There has been a lot of discussion about Arsenal giving up on progressing in the Champions League in favour of making a sustained challenge for the Premier League title. This view was given credence when we saw Arsene Wenger pick severely weakened teams for the first two Group matches and keeping our First XI fit for the weekend League games.
Now Wenger has given his clearest indication yet that he may continue playing his best team against Watford this weekend, and using some rotation for the midweek clash with the giants of Bayern Munich. He was asked on Arsenal.com if he would pick his team on Saturday with one eye on the UCL match, and he replied: “Not at all. For me the most important game is Watford because the Premier League is the most important competition, with the Champions League. I would say the Premier League is the most important competition for us.”
It is hard to disagree with him really, and the fact is that every League game is draining to the team, so expecting our players to turn up fresh again to face Bayern three days after the Watford match is a bit hopeful to say the least.
Many readers have pointed out on JustArsenal that, in all honesty, the Gunners have little or no chance of lifting the Champions League trophy at the moment, so would Wenger be right to play his reserves against Bayern Munich?