Posted on Saturday, 16th February 2013 by Patrick Ssekatawa
Tuesday evening promises to be a mouth-watering one, as it will see Germany’s record league winners Bayern Munich pit their wits against Arsene Wenger’s men. It’s an encounter all Arsenal fans have been awaiting for since the draw, albeit with mixed feelings, with some terribly worried that a mauling is beckoning, while others, like me, think The Gunners can spring a surprise and progress past the Bavarians over the two legs.
Yes, the German side is a superior one in almost every footballing sense. They have won the European Cup on four occasions, reached the final nine times, have won the Bundesliga 22 times and the German Cup 15 times, and have an expensively assembled squad. They are a team with a much richer history and great stature, no doubt.
On the other hand though, Arsenal have no Champions Leagues to show-off for their efforts. They have reached the final only once, have won the domestic league 13 times, FA Cup 10 times and have a cheaply assembled squad! If such stats won football matches, we would definitely be out of it before taking to the pitch!
But on Tuesday, all that will count for nothing. Both teams will have to field a maximum of 14 players and that is the most important thing. Bayern are a great side, but they are no Barcelona. They are beatable. In fact, much more beatable than the Catalan giants we managed to beat a couple of seasons ago. This very season we witnessed BATE Borisov hit three past Bayern who were completely lacklustre! Last season we saw how Chelsea triumphed over the German giants and won the Champions League title in their own backyard against all odds! So why can’t we?
In past years, Arsenal have been written off before playing against big European sides, and we ended up making those lot eat their words. When Arsenal went to the Santiago Bernabeu in 2006, almost everyone thought we would be annihilated, but a solo goal from Thierry Henry was enough to settle the tie as the return leg ended goalless. Remember this was a victory against a side that possessed Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo Da Lima, Raul Gonzalez, David Beckham, Guti and so many others, while we had the likes of Mathieu Flamini, Philippe Senderos, the aging Freddie Ljungberg and the likes of Arturo Lupoli on the bench! Thierry Henry was the only player of genuine superstar quality in our squad, as the likes of Robert Pires had past his peak! That year we went on to beat Juventus who had big names like Alessandro Del Pierro, Pavel Nedved, David Trezeguet, Lillian Thuram, Patrick Vieira, Emerson and Cafu, beat them 2-0 at home before going on to draw 0-0 at the Stadio delle Alpi in Turin.
In 2008, we beat AC Milan 2-0 after we had drawn 0-0 at The Emirates. I think such sweet memories should be enough to make the Arsenal doubters take heart that ejecting Bayern Munich from the Champions League is certainly not out of reach!
Looking at our players, I genuinely think we have enough quality in the squad to beat anyone on our day and why can we not turn it on next week? I honestly don’t see that much of a difference between the midfield of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Javi Martinez and Toni Kroos and that of Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla. I think we can match them pound for pound. The forward line of Arjen Robben, Mario Gomez and Franck Ribery/Thomas Muller look a lot more stronger than ours, but I think Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski aren’t too bad either and can surely deliver the goods. We just need to get in their faces and we will surely frustrate them.
One of the most notable things is that we have a formidable home record. Since 2003, we have lost only once to foreign opposition against Schalke this very season! In fact, Bayern have not won any of their last five visits to England, and they will come knowing exactly that. I’m sure they will be wary of our threat. We are seasoned campaigners, we have the experience and the fact that we shall have both Podolski and Per Mertesacker in our ranks, Bayern will not be totally strange to us, will they?
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Tags: Alessandro Del Piero, Arjen Robben, Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Arturo Lupoli, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Bayern Munich, Cafu, Da Lima, David Beckham, David Trezeguet, Emerson, Franck Ribery, Freddi Ljungberg, Guti, Jack Wilshere, Javi Martinez, Lilliam Thuram, Lukas Podolski, Mario Gomez, Mathieu Flamini, Mikel Arteta, Olivier Giroud, Patrick Vieira, Pavel Nedved, Per Mertesacker, Philippe Senderos, Raul Gonzalez, Robert Pires, Ronaldo, Santi Cazorla, Stadio Delle Alpi, Theo Walcott, Thierry Henry, Thomas Müller, Toni Kroos, Zinedine Zidane
Posted in View From The Sphere | Comments (16)
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February 16th, 2013 at 5:18 pm
Let’s hope they are worse than Blackburn, otherwise you are in trouble!
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February 16th, 2013 at 5:22 pm
You got to be as deluded as that knob wenger! In WENGER WE RUST!
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February 16th, 2013 at 5:23 pm
The gift that keeps on giving
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Jon Reply:
February 16th, 2013 at 5:27 pm
So very, very deluded
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February 16th, 2013 at 5:25 pm
A good old 4-0 spanking will put the gooners in their place. Wenger insists if they can beat Bayern munich they can win the CL. Lol, they cant even beat Blackburn at the emirates!!! Very poor.
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February 16th, 2013 at 5:25 pm
Did you just watch the shambles they call Arsenal ???? If you did your statement is laughable,Munich is everything Arsenal are not,a complete machine with aggression and world class players.
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February 16th, 2013 at 5:26 pm
god help us, byern is going to spank us
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February 16th, 2013 at 5:27 pm
Deluded Gooners. We are talking about Bayern and not Blackburn. You might have had your fat snouts in the UEFA trough for over a decade, helped by the so-called co-efficient which ensures you are drawn in ‘easy groups’ but you haven’t won a thing for nearly nine years. Pathetic. Especially the tiresome Arsene Whinger who blames everyone else. Another trophy less year beckons.
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February 16th, 2013 at 5:28 pm
We can’t beat Crackburn, and you think we’ll take Bayern? Yeah, it’s possible, but so is getting jumped but five super models, and I’m a scary looking guy
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February 16th, 2013 at 5:33 pm
I hope arsenal triumph i think bayern will win comfortably both home and away.They have turned a competitive league into a cakewalk and i think that they along with barca are the best teams in Europe
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February 16th, 2013 at 5:34 pm
I blame the Arabs and the Russians for this: it was their fault that we played like a bunch of deluded tossers. We just can’t compete with the mighty Blackburn but watch out, we will hammer those Euro Minnows, Bayern Whatsit of Germany. blah blah blah …………… 8 years without a trophy is an illusion because qualifying for the Champions League (even though we never are actually champions of anything) is really a trophy ……………. yawn, yawn.
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February 16th, 2013 at 5:58 pm
another delusional gooner …. its all mission impossible until wenger and his board leaves.
wake up will you …. nothings changed for the best part of 8 seasons and you dream of glory?
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February 16th, 2013 at 6:07 pm
yes we will pummel the bavarian club to smithereens like we did to blackb…oops…my bad…until fans stop going to the shithole that our club has become and paying money to watch the likes of gervinho and diaby, we wont win anything.Wenger out and so should the board….dont buy a season ticket the next season.this is the lesson to this money grabbing b******s in the board…
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February 16th, 2013 at 8:06 pm
You need therapy!
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February 17th, 2013 at 12:47 pm
You expressed a stand-out optimism. May be you are still far from reality. Come on mate,we are no match for them. But God can give glory to d weakened in a Nigerian wise word
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February 17th, 2013 at 3:49 pm
I cant c arsenal beating bayarn, black b humilated us at emirate now some think arsenal can hurt bayarn no it can not happen.sorry gunners.
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