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Champions League: Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich: On Tuesday night, in front of a boisterous Emirates crowd, two former Champions League rivals reunite as Arsenal and Bayern Munich square off in the first leg of their quarterfinal match.
The Gunners defeated Porto on penalties to extinguish memories of their last season’s knockout round.
Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel’s team, who will be without any supporters in North London due to an incident involving fireworks, advanced thus far thanks to a second-leg comeback victory over Lazio.
Since their most recent run to the round of eight in Europe’s premier competition in 2009–10, when the Arsene Wenger-led crop overcame a first-leg deficit against Porto with a commanding 5-0 Emirates victory, Arsenal’s last-16 woes had dogged the North London giants.
After fourteen years, Arsenal’s comeback against the Portuguese powerhouses was less dramatic, but they managed to break their last-16 curse thanks to two saves from David Raya from close range and Mikel Arteta’s flawless outfield play from 12 yards. The Gunners were able to relive their 09-10 season.
The eliminated 2006 finalists now have more European demons to face on Tuesday night, not the least of which is their recent string of embarrassing Bayern blowouts.
Two of their previous three Champions League quarter final appearances have resulted in elimination, with the exception being their 2008–09 victory over Villarreal.
But after Arsenal moved out of Highbury, the atmosphere at the Emirates has probably reached its peak.
On Saturday, they defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 in the Premier League, their 10th victory in 11 top-flight games and their fourth straight clean sheet in all competitions, vaulting them back to the top of the table in the middle of an intense three-way race for supremacy.
Arsenal equaled a club record by keeping five straight Premier League away clean sheets, and they now return to their dreaded home after six straight victories at the Emirates in all competitions.
This season, they have won all four of their Champions League matches on home soil without conceding a goal.
Of course, Harry Kane, who has been tortured by Tottenham Hotspur for years, has ended his affiliation with North London in an attempt to get rid of the trophy monkey on his back.
He is a fearsome marksman with all the experience to score at the Emirates Stadium.
In the Bundesliga match this weekend against Heidenheim, the England captain and another former Arsenal academy product, Serge Gnabry, gave Bayern a 2-0 lead.
However, due to a disastrous second-half collapse, the struggling champions all but gave up the title to Bayer Leverkusen in a painful 3-2 loss.
With six games left, Bayern is sixteen points behind Xabi Alonso’s undefeated team and will lose their tenuous hold on the German top flight title should Leverkusen win just one of their final six games.
Unless a footballing miracle occurs, Tuchel’s only chance to salvage his miserable summer campaign will be the Champions League.
Similar to their forthcoming hosts, Bayern also had to earn their spot in the quarterfinals for the fifth season in a row by overcoming a 1-0 loss to Lazio in the first leg and a 3-0 victory in the second.
However, European demons have also recently plagued Tuesday’s visitors, as they have been eliminated at this stage three times in a row.
Even though Bayern has only kept one clean sheet in their last 12 games across all competitions, Gooners have every right to feel that revenge is on the horizon given the respective domestic careers of the two heavyweights.
Bayern will also be less confident before they face Arsenal again, whom they have thrashed 5-1 in each of their previous three meetings.
Arsenal Champions League form:
W W W D L W
Arsenal form (all competitions):
W W W D W W
Bayern Munich Champions League form:
W W D W L W
Bayern Munich form (all competitions):
D W W W L L
To the delight of the Emirates army, Bukayo Saka, who played for just over an hour at the Amex, played down worries of a crippling issue despite acknowledging that he was “struggling” toward the end of Arsenal’s victory over Brighton over the weekend. He is expected to start Tuesday’s match from the starting lineup.
Consequently, Declan Rice and Kai Havertz will be walking a tightrope on Tuesday; one more booking and the pair will miss the second leg at the Allianz Arena.
Only ACL victim Jurrien Timber, who is still expected to return before the season ends, should miss this match for Arsenal.
Read Also: Mikel Arteta’s Explosive Update on Bukayo Saka for High-Stakes Luton Town Clash!
Given the significance of his two high-profile summer additions, Arteta shouldn’t be thinking about hypothetical yellow cards.
However, a few changes on the left could see Gabriel Martinelli and Takehiro Tomiyasu added back to the starting lineup for Arsenal’s biggest game of the post-Wenger era.
While Havertz and Rice face potential suspensions, Bayern may once again rely on Dayot Upamecano, who was sent off in the Bavarians’ 1-0 away loss to Lazio and missed his team’s decisive second-leg victory against them.
Though Tuchel acknowledged prior to Saturday’s defeat that the quintet would be doubtful for the first leg, the visitors’ treatment room is crowded with patients due to the absence of Manuel Neuer (groyne), Kingsley Coman (thigh), Leroy Sane (groyne), Noussair Mazraoui (illness), and Aleksandar Pavlovic (illness) during the defeat to Heidenheim.
The ravaged visitors are already without Gabriel Marusic (ACL), Tarek Buchmann (hamstring), Bouna Sarr (ACL), Sacha Boey (hip), and Noel Aseko (ankle).
However, at least Kane is fit and ready to go as the former Tottenham star looks to add to his tally of 14 goals from 19 previous meetings with Arsenal, whom he briefly represented as a schoolboy.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu; Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Ulreich; Kimmich, Upamecano, Kim, Davies; Goretzka, Laimer; Muller, Musiala, Gnabry; Kane
Our prediction for this match 2-1 won by Arsenal or 1-1 draw
