Arsenal’s last trip to Allianz Arena was horrible
Did you guys see what happened last night?
So we were paired in the same group with Paris St. Germain and they literally ran us ragged in the course of both legs (we still drew both games heh!) but they gave Barcelona a footballing lesson at the Parc des Princes and I don’t see the Catalans coming back from that resounding defeat. Hell, if PSG decides to forfeit the game, they would still win on aggregate. Elsewhere, a profligate Borussia Dortmund lost by a lone goal to Benfica but it’s a deficit that can be overturned in Germany, provided they find their scoring touch again. The German side was uncharacteristically wasteful, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang being the waster-in-chief.
The Gunners reward for winning their group is a clash with Bayern Munich, a team they have become all too familiar playing with. The Germans have edged past Arsene Wenger in recent meetings, knocking the Gunners out on two Round of 16 occasions, as well as the 5-1 demolition in the group stages last season. In Arsenal’s five trips to Germany, they have managed one win, one draw and three defeats.
Since Carlo Ancelotti took over from Pep Guardiola, the Bavarians haven’t been commanding in Europe, losing to Atletico Madrid and even minnows, FC Rostov, which earned them a second place finish. They struggled to beat Inglostadt last week but that victory sent them seven points clear of this season’s Bundesliga surprise package, RB Leipzig. Ancelotti will be hoping for his big guns in attack to turn up but in Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller, they have a considerable threat even though both forwards have found it hard to get on the scoring act in recent weeks.
On the injury front, Bayern will be without Jerome Boateng that is still nursing a shoulder problem but they will be boosted with the fact that Franck Ribery has been passed fit to feature for the first team.
Predicted Lineup: Neuer; Alaba, Hummels, Javi Martinez, Lahm (c); Kimmich, Thiago, Vidal; Robben, Lewandowski, Mueller.
Wenger has already confirmed that David Ospina would remain in goal despite the quality of the opposition, stating that the team is where it is because of Ospina. His performance against PSG away was out of the top drawer and he has gone on to put some impressive showings in this season’s Champions League. Granit Xhaka come be in line for a return against German opposition and he will be pretty familiar playing at the Allianz Arena from his Borussia Monchengladbach. It seems like he would start but the manager will be hoping for a better performance from Mesut Ozil. The German has been in shocking in recent weeks and I am hoping he will pick up some form.
Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey are still out injured, while Per Mertesacker and Matt Debuchy aren’t match fit enough for selection. Nacho Monreal returns to the team after getting a breather against Hull. It is believed that Lucas Perez has picked up a knock as news surfaced that he didn’t train with the squad.
Predicted Lineup: Ospina; Bellerin, Koscielny (c), Mustafi, Monreal; Xhaka, Coquelin, Ozil; Iwobi, Sanchez, Walcott
It’s going to be an interesting game and I only hope the Gunners get a positive result.
We have had our fair share of negativity this season.
Sayonara.
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