THIS IS THE TOUGHEST TEST OF ALL
Arsenal must tame Pep’s invincibles
ONE by one some of the greatest players in the history of the game will step off Bayern Munich’s branded Champions League bus when it pulls up at the Emirates this evening.
There is an aura about Pep Guardiola’s team, an air of invincibility after nine successive victories in the Bundesliga, two convincing triumphs in the Champions League and a win in the German Cup. They look and feel menacing.
The names of Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Douglas Costa, Thiago Alcantara, Philipp Lahm and the sweeper- keeper Manuel Neuer are football’s equivalent to the Harlem Globetrotters. Little wonder, then, that Arsene Wenger joked about sleeping badly as he contemplated his team selection for a game Arsenal are under pressure to win. This Bayern team oozes class.
‘You have to respect Bayern, historically they have won the European Cup five times and Arsenal zero,’ admitted Wenger, who was uncharacteristically deferential at the official UEFA press conference.
‘We cannot say historically we are at the same level as Bayern because they have done it in the past. They have the history and the knowledge. What we want is to get there.
‘We will look at the potential performance on the day. After that, history doesn’t play the game. We want to win the Champions League, but the obsession at the moment is to stay in it, not to win it.’
They are in a spot of bother in Group F because Arsenal were beaten 2-1 by Dinamo Zagreb and then surprisingly defeated at the Emirates by Greek outsiders Olympiacos.
Wenger’s decision to rest Petr Cech for the 3-2 defeat against Olympiacos backfired when Colombian keeper David Ospina made a huge error when he took the ball over the line after failing to collect Kostas Fortounis’s corner.
It has left them playing catch-up in the group phase against a team which has already scored eight times without reply in their opening two games. ‘ We maybe could be a little suspect of not taking the first two games at the level of the opponent seriously enough, but let’s take the positives from the Premier League and make sure we have the right focus for a big opponent,’ added Wenger.
‘Our focus has been much stronger in the Premier League than it has been in Europe and we know in this game the focus needs to be exactly the same as in the Premier League. ‘We have some ground to make up in Europe as we have not been at our requested level in our first two games. ‘We have played great Bayern teams, at least as good as this one, and beaten them. ‘The one that made the treble with Ribery at full power, Robben at full power and Kroos, Schweinsteiger and Muller in midfield so I believe we have played good Bayern sides and got good results against them.’ It is 10 years since Arsenal beat Bayern Munich at home, when Thierry Henry’s strike at Highbury made its way past Oliver Kahn. Wenger’s team still went out on aggregate.
This is another big night for Arsenal, given a puncher’s chance against Guardiola’s free- scoring team as they attempt to transfer their league form to the grand setting of the European stage.
Wenger has huge respect for Guardiola, recognising his exceptional achievements with Barcelona — where he twice won the Champions League — and Bayern Munich in seven years as a coach. ‘He has done a magnificent job at Barcelona and now he does very well at Bayern as well,’ said Wenger. ‘He is a very good manager, he has a positive philosophy and he gets his teams to play. I respect that highly as it is not easy.’
Wenger was full of praise for this Bayern team and had already conceded that they are the best club team in the world by the time he got round to speaking about Lewandowski. ‘The best way to combat him is for us to have the ball,’ he said. ‘After that you have to be shrewd with him because inside the box he is outstanding.
‘His technique, his finishing and movement inside the box is the reason he will need the experience of Mertesacker and Koscielny to deal with it. That will be one of the most important things on the night.’
If Arsenal can keep him muzzled, this game must be won by either Mesut Ozil or Alexis Sanchez (left) because they are not the types to be intimidated by the intensity of Bayern’s game.
Even with those two matchwinners in the team, it still feels like Arsenal will be outpassed by Xabi Alonso, Arturo Vidal, Alcantara and Costa in Bayern’s midfield.
‘In 2015 we are the team who has taken more points than anybody else but we are still accused of being inconsistent,’ added Wenger.
‘In Europe it is true we have been poor in our first two games. That is what we want to correct.’
Against a team of superstars, there is no better time to do it.