Arsenal will be looking to do the impossible when they welcome Bayern Munich to the Emirates Stadium for their second leg Champions League encounter later today. The Gunners got thrashed 5-1 in the first leg at the Allianz Arena and even if they do win this second leg match, it's highly impossible that they will defeat the German giants on aggregate score line and progress to the next round.
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Arsenal go into this match on the back of a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool and their season has taken a turn for the worst as they went from title contenders to battling for a finish in the top four one again. Even if Arsenal does not go through to the next round, they need to put in a really strong performance to lift their confidence as it could go a long way in helping them for the rest of the season.
Arsenal will be without their German playmaker Mesut Ozil for this match as he was deemed not ready by Arsene Wenger despite taking part in training. Apart from him, Arsenal has Santi Cazorla and Mohamed Elneny on the sidelines, through long-term injuries. Alexis Sanchez, who was on the bench against Liverpool, will be expected to start this match and Aaron Ramsey could also feature after he returned from recently.
While Wenger said he knew Arsenal had only a one or two percent chance of winning the match, he wanted his players to give their best performance and wanted to focus on the quality of performance and commitment.
"What you expect is that you go out there with a mixture of lucid rage. Total commitment, but not a silly one. Look we missed 45 minutes at Bayern Munich and we have an opportunity to put it right. Let's not fool ourselves; we have a one or two-percent chance. But you never know. That's why we have to focus on the quality of our performance and our commitment."
"So we have to earn our freedom to play because at the moment we play a little bit with the handbrake. In this game, maybe because we have nothing to lose, we can let the handbrake off and play with more freedom."
Bayern Munich on the other hand are clear favourites to win this match but given that Arsenal have always performed well in the second leg after a disappointing show in the first leg, they could give the German champions a run for their money.
Bayern Munich are undefeated in their last five games in all competitions and have conceded only two goals in the process and they will be keen to continue that record when they face an Arsenal side low on confidence at the moment. Bayern will be without two of their key defenders in Jerome Boateng who is injured and Captain Philipp Lahm who is suspended.
Mats Hummels, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Xabi Alonso were all on the bench for Bayern's win over Cologne on Saturday and all four are set to return. Renato Sanches and Douglas Costa, who had slight knocks, travelled with the team to England but it's not sure if they will be part of the match day squad.
Bayern boss Carlo Ancelotti said that he does feel sorry for Wenger and his current situating saying that this is simply part of the job. Despite that the Italian said he will be fielding his best possible team at the Emirates stadium despite having a four goal advantage.
"In our job, we have to live with critics. The most important is being able to consider the right critics. Wenger is a manager with a lot of experience, more than others, and I'm sure he will be able to manage this situation. It's a situation that can happen to every manager. Criticism is normal."
"I sympathise with him as a manager. As a man I have a good relationship with him. I have a lot of respect for him, not every manager will be able to do what he did here in this club. We will play our best team," said Ancelotti. "It is an important game, we have the advantage. We want to show a good game with our qualities."
Where to watch
The Champions League match between Arsenal and Bayern Munich is set to start at 7.45pm GMT (8.45pm CET, 2.45pm ET, 1.15am IST).
TV and live streaming information
India: TV: Ten 1 HD, Ten 2. Live Streaming: Ten Sports Live.
UK: TV: BT Sports 2. Live streaming: Watch BT Sport.
USA: TV: Fox Sports 1. Live streaming: Fox Soccer 2 Go.
Germany: TV: Sky Sports 2/HD. Live Streaming: Sky Go Germany.
Africa: TV: SuperSport 3. Live streaming: SuperSport live.
Australia, France, and Middle East: TV: Bein Sports. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
