IT’S MIK OR BREAK FOR GUNNERS...

Arteta knows that trips to Germany and Wolves in the space of 72 hours will be decisive

MIKEL ARTETA faces a make-or-break 72 hours to shape Arsenal’s season.

The Gunners go to Bayern Munich tomorrow night for their Champions League quarter-final second leg.

And that is followed by a trip to Wolves on Saturday in front of the Sky TV cameras with a 7.30pm kick-off because of the crazy fixture schedule.

But Arteta’s job will be even tougher if they go out in the Allianz Arena – and then the Arsenal manager

(top) has to lift his players to face Wolves.

Suddenly, Arsenal’s season could come down to two games in the space of three days because going out of Europe would be devastating and then defeat at Wolves would leave their title hopes in tatters.

On top of that, Arsenal are nursing a few injury issues.

Martin Odegaard limped out of Sunday’s defeat to Aston

Villa with a muscle injury.

The hope is that Odegaard

– who ran himself to a standstill and regularly gets subbed off towards the end of games after a big shift – will be fit to face Bayern.

These are the games that every player wants to figure in. But there are also issues around Jorginho, who has been managing an Achilles issue for much of the season.

Arteta probably started Leandro Trossard on Sunday ahead of Gabriel Martinelli (above) as a calculated risk – which did not work – to save the Brazil winger for Bayern.

Martinelli’s pace could be crucial at the Allianz Arena to stretch Bayern on the break, but Arteta was probably guilty of not taking each game as it comes. Otherwise, he would have just picked his strongest line-up to face

Villa. This run of games was always going to be the ultimate test.

But somehow Arteta must lift the mood for the trip to Bayern which offers Arsenal the chance to reach their first Champions

League semi-final since 2009. They are already breaking barriers under Arteta. The Bayern game is very much alive despite the 2-2 draw at the Emirates.

Bayern kept their first clean sheet in ten

Bundesliga games and the fans were chanting about European Cups during Saturday’s win over Cologne.

But the dethroned champions are missing Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry and Alphonso

Davies. The six-time winners have European pedigree to outweigh Arsenal’s poor record, despite the consistency under Arsene Wenger. They always got out of the group stages, but could not get any further.

This is a big opportunity for Arsenal. They looked nervous in the first leg.

The rock-solid defensive partnership of Gabriel and William Saliba – which has served them so well – even looked a little vulnerable.

Maybe they are feeling the effects of a gruelling season.

But they will have to lift themselves one last time for Bayern. Because, ultimately, their whole season might depend on it.