London: Bayern Munich travel to the north side of London to face the gunners in a mouth-watering last 16 champion’s league encounter. Arsenal’s woe continues as they lost to Blackburn rovers, currently in the lower division of English football, by a goal in the prestigious FA cup tie. Arsenal’s only hope of silverware this season is the champion’s league.
Mid-Battle-field:
Arsenal’s midfield trio of Jack Wilshere, Mikeal Arteta and the mesmerizing Santi Carzola will face a daunting task to stop the Bavarian midfield, consisting of Bastian Schwienstiger, the german prodigy Toni Kroos and Javi Martinez. The onus lie on the Wilshere’s vision and the Spaniards creativity to break the defenses of Bayern.
Power in my Wings:
Walcott will be up against David Alaba, a left-back who possesses similarly devastating pace – and in particular, highly impressive acceleration. Walcott will not be able to rely on his raw speed and make the same run repeatedly – he will have to vary his movement. Alaba can leave too much space in behind, however, and Arsenal must look to exploit this.
Ribery and Robben, a.k.a ‘Robbery’ will continue their task of running at defender’s. Robben is in top form since returning from his muscle injury he suffered in November. Ribery on the other hand continues to wreak havoc to defenders with four goals and 7 assists in the bundesliga
Manager’s Desk:
Arsène Wenger:
I have the experience to know it's played over 180 minutes. We must put in our head that we have 180 minutes to qualify – we must not rush our game. It's important to play to win the competition and at some stage we'll therefore come up against good teams. I trust our quality, I trust our spirit and I trust our mental strength – so see you tomorrow!
Jupp Heynckes:
I think last season we had a great season but with Bayern if you don't win a title then it's not enough. This season we've changed in defence and what's important to me is that every player must learn to defend and attack; every player is a defender and an attacker.
Form Trail:
Arsenal were knocked out from the FA cup while Bayern are cruising in the league with a 15 point lead in the league table, with a win 2-0 against Wolfsburg.
Have we met? :
The teams met at this stage in 2004/05, Bayern establishing a 3-1 lead in the home leg with Pizarro scoring their first two goals. It was enough to take them through, despite Arsenal's 1-0 win in the return.
I say:
Arsenal will have to sweat it out to get a result in their favour. With Arsene Wenger under a lot of fire, it is imperative that Arsenal get a positive result out of this game and keep their trophy hopes alive. It will eventually come down to a battle of the midfield. For me, Bavarians are too strong and will prevail in the tie. I am going for a 1-2 win for Bayern.
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