YOU CAN DO MAGIC
Arteta urges stars to deliver something special
MIKEL ARTETA has insisted Arsenal will have to produce a “magic moment” to write their names into the history books.
The Gunners face Bayern Munich at the Emirates tonight as Arteta looks to lead the club into their first Champions League semi-final since 2009.
The Gunners boss has urged the crowd to create a special atmosphere to overcome Harry Kane’s Bayern, who they have not beaten in the knockout stage.
Arsenal have lost their last three meetings by the same 5-1 scoreline.
“You want to overcome those hurdles in this competition,” said Arteta.
“You are going to need some magic moments. At a certain stage, and at a certain moment in the tie, something exceptional has to happen.
“It has to go your way, you have to generate that momentum and in order for that to happen, you have to make it happen, otherwise it’s not going to come.
“You have to provoke that and we will try to make that happen.
With the atmosphere we have in our stadium, the energy they create and the positivity we had against Porto in the last round, you could see and sense it that it’s an extra thing you have that the opponent doesn’t have and we have to feel that from the very first whistle.”
Bayern are seasoned European campaigners but their fans are banned from the Emirates for this first leg after UEFA punished them for two recent offences of letting off fireworks.
The Germans are in a state of disarray as they are 16 points behind Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and head coach Thomas Tuchel is leaving at the end of the season.
But Arteta insists the Gunners still lack Bayern’s European know-how and pedigree.
He added: “Bayern have the experience and have gone through a lot of those moments and that is in their history.
“It’s that presence and that security that they transmit within their body language. Because they’ve done it and have the reassurance that they can do it again and that’s really important.
“We are now creating a new history and that is why those moments that we had in the group stages, for qualifying first, and what we did with Porto is really important as it generates belief, a sense of positivity in the team that when the moment comes, we can overcome it and go through.”
And Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus wants to forget his own pain by helping Arsenal to an “amazing achievement”.
Jesus, 27, made a shock admission on the eve of the match that he cannot remember the last time he played without pain.
He has been plagued by a knee problem since the World Cup in 2022 and had to undergo surgery, endured a setback and has even had several flare-ups of swelling in recent games.
Jesus said: “I don’t remember the last day I played football without pain, so I cannot complain. I’m just trying to recover good to be ready.”