Guardiola insists his team are underdogs
They may have won every one of their competitive fixtures this season, but Pep Guardiola claims Bayern Munich will be the underdogs against Arsenal this evening.
The Bavarians, whose 12 victories in all competitions have seen them score 40 goals and concede just five, faced Arsenal in consecutive years in the Champions League first knockout round in 2013 and 2014. Both occasions saw Arsene Wenger’s men effectively eliminated from the competition before the second leg after comprehensive humblings at the emirates.
Arsenal are now in danger of failing to make it past the group stage after back-to-back defeats by Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos. But Guardiola insists this will only provide further motivation for the Gunners against his German champions tonight.
‘They have an advantage because they have to win,’ the Spaniard said. ‘I can imagine how my players would be if it was the other way round. They would be animals. They would be very aggressive. We have to look for a different way to compete against them. We must be intelligent.
‘Of course our situation is better than Arsenal’s, but there are still 12 points up for grabs and we have not qualified yet. We have to fight against one of the best teams in europe.’
Guardiola was not involved in Bayern’s demolition jobs in north London but his all- conquering Barcelona team left the emirates winless in the knockout stages in 2010 and 2011, before beating them at the Nou Camp.
The 44-year-old is concerned that his side would have been in much better shape for this match after their 5-1 thumping of rivals Borussia Dortmund before the international break.
On Saturday they managed a modest 1- 0 victory at Werder Bremen, rather than one of the usual three or four- goal thrashings. ‘Two weeks ago we were really good, but in the last game we didn’t play so well,’ said Guardiola. ‘If we play like that again we won’t reach our objectives.
‘Arsenal have great quality and they are a very technical team. It’s difficult to play against them and it’s tough to find an Arsenal player without quality, who is not good in one-on-one situations.
‘When I analyse a team I never look at the table to see what position they are in, I don’t care about that. Alexis Sanchez is in top form as is Mesut Ozil. The way he moves between the lines to create space is amazing. And Theo Walcott not only plays on the right, he plays up front as well. he’s so fast and so difficult to control.
‘When a team decides to play Santi Cazorla as a deep playmaker, it’s a signal of how they want to play. Normally in that position you have big, strong guys who run, but Arsenal decide to play Cazorla there. We don’t expect to have the ball for 90 minutes against them.’