Comment By Michael Osareme
The draw for the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League was made on Monday afternoon, and yet again the inevitable happened, for all of what we know, Arsenal draw Bayern Munich yet again.
Despite all the furore surrounding this draw, Arsene Wenger’s men can
go into the first leg at the Allianz Arena with
much more confidence than previous years gone by having gone unbeaten in their Champions League group. Carlo Ancelotti’s
side finished runners up behind Atletico Madrid in their group which contained FC Rostov and PSV, where they lost games against Atleti and more surprisingly, Russian
team Rostov.
The Gunners finished top of Group A after winning in the final game at FC Basel in Switzerland and PSG dropping points at
Ludogorets, although it still wasn’t enough to avoid a tricky draw against one of
Europe’s most powerful and dominant sides.
Bayern’s form in the Bundesliga has been
typically solid this season and they currently
sit at the top of the table on goal difference, with surprise package RB Leipzig level on points, although domestic form rarely plays apart in European performances as we’ve
seen with Leicester City so far.
While past results may not bode well for the
north London side, the future certainly does.
Arsenal have looked terrific in patches this campaign, playing scintillating football at times with Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez at the forefront of everything positive in attack.
"No team is super, super favourite and everybody can have a chance”.
"The quality of the draw, or the luck of the draw, could have a part to play as well
because we know now that after finishing top of the group, our second game is at home.
"So that gives you a psychological advantage
and we just have to look at it and deal with it after.” said Arsene Wenger, in his press conference on Monday ahead of the premier league clash with Everton on Tuesday just before the draw was conducted.
Wenger's Champions League record has been underwhelming for several years. The Frenchman has seen his side knocked out of
the tournament at the last-16 stage for six
successive seasons, winning just eight knockout ties in the competition in total
since he took over 20 years ago. Bayern have
won the trophy twice since Wenger became
Arsenal manager in 1996.
Although, the clash is still two months away and both team might maintain or drop their form before then, but at the Emirates, the confidence is brewing, the fans are happy
and the players are beginning to believe
that they are capable of creating something
special this season.
The tide might just change this time around.
Follow on Twitter: @MichaelImianvan
Despite all the furore surrounding this draw, Arsene Wenger’s men can
go into the first leg at the Allianz Arena with
much more confidence than previous years gone by having gone unbeaten in their Champions League group. Carlo Ancelotti’s
side finished runners up behind Atletico Madrid in their group which contained FC Rostov and PSV, where they lost games against Atleti and more surprisingly, Russian
team Rostov.
The Gunners finished top of Group A after winning in the final game at FC Basel in Switzerland and PSG dropping points at
Ludogorets, although it still wasn’t enough to avoid a tricky draw against one of
Europe’s most powerful and dominant sides.
Bayern’s form in the Bundesliga has been
typically solid this season and they currently
sit at the top of the table on goal difference, with surprise package RB Leipzig level on points, although domestic form rarely plays apart in European performances as we’ve
seen with Leicester City so far.
While past results may not bode well for the
north London side, the future certainly does.
Arsenal have looked terrific in patches this campaign, playing scintillating football at times with Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez at the forefront of everything positive in attack.
"No team is super, super favourite and everybody can have a chance”.
"The quality of the draw, or the luck of the draw, could have a part to play as well
because we know now that after finishing top of the group, our second game is at home.
"So that gives you a psychological advantage
and we just have to look at it and deal with it after.” said Arsene Wenger, in his press conference on Monday ahead of the premier league clash with Everton on Tuesday just before the draw was conducted.
Wenger's Champions League record has been underwhelming for several years. The Frenchman has seen his side knocked out of
the tournament at the last-16 stage for six
successive seasons, winning just eight knockout ties in the competition in total
since he took over 20 years ago. Bayern have
won the trophy twice since Wenger became
Arsenal manager in 1996.
Although, the clash is still two months away and both team might maintain or drop their form before then, but at the Emirates, the confidence is brewing, the fans are happy
and the players are beginning to believe
that they are capable of creating something
special this season.
The tide might just change this time around.
Follow on Twitter: @MichaelImianvan
Arsenal never live up to expectations when it matters most. It is not also today they will be in good form. Hopefully this squad remains in one piece by then because if a key player like Ozil gets injured, it's game over. We can see the rock solid Mustafi is currently out even though not long term.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Everything depends on Arsenal getting retain their present form and also pray they don't loose vital players to injury before then. With all this in place, Arsenal's conquest over a fumbling Bayern is never in doubt.
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