Just Arsenal News

Arsenal have a mountain to climb in the Allianz Arena tonight, but reports earlier suggesting that Arsene Wenger was going to rest Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla have proved to be wrong. Whether Wenger changed his mind after hearing the negative comments or was playing mind games is not important, what is important is that the team gives everything tonight.

Not many Arsenal fans are really expecting to overturn the 3-1 deficit from the first leg at the Emirates, but we need to see a fully committed performance. The Arsenal captain is not in the starting line up, so Koscielny will partner Mertesacker in central defence, and Gibbs will start. .......Read the full article here

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal preview, match line up and score line prediction. by KJ

The sad truth is that this tie is all but lost. Our inability to defend in the first leg has created a monumental task for our players in Germany. We have to go to the Allianz and beat arguably the best side in Europe 3 – 0 at least to qualify for the next round. That’s an extremely difficult task for the likes of Barcelona and Madrid, let alone Arsenal.

Fortunately for us, our extremely slim chances are helped by the fact that Bayern have a catalogue of players out for the game tomorrow which contains Ribery, Boateng, Badstuber and Schweinsteiger. Robben is also a doubt for a starting place. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal will need every advantage they can get to produce a famous victory in Munich and progress to the Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of Bayern. There is some good news for the Gunners today, though, as it appears that Franck Ribery will definitely miss Wednesday’s clash at the Allianz Arena while Arjen Robben is a real doubt.

Bayern will already have to do without their midfield general Bastian Schweinsteiger and defender Jerome Boateng because they are suspended. Bayern still have plenty of good players available, but they will definitely be weakened by the absence of these players. .......Read the full article here

I am sure that Many Arsenal fans, and the coaching staff as well, watched the German cup match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich last night, hoping for some sign of weakness or some tips on how best to go about overturning the 3-1 home defeat when we travel to the Allianz Arena on March 13th to try to salvage our Champions League dreams.

There was precious little reason for optimism, however, as the runaway leaders of the Bundesliga never looked in danger from the team in second place. Dortmund had beat them to the German title and demolished them in last year’s cup final, but they hardly got a sniff last night. The only real positive was that Bayern’s performance dropped off in the second half and they only scored one goal. .......Read the full article here

The main surprise in the Arsenal line up to face Bayern Munich is the omission of Olivier Giroud and the inclusion of Aaron Ramsey from the starting 11. If Arsene Wenger intends to play his usual 4-3-3 formation then the front three will be Cazorla and Podolski on either side of Theo Walcott.

Koscielny is fit and will partner Mertesacker at the back with Vermaelem filling in on the left. Ramsey will play alongside Arteta as the holding midfielders, giving the Gunners a more solid look. What it will do is free Jack Wilshere to get forward more. The England international has the talent to really trouble Munich, so we need a great game from him tonight. .......Read the full article here

Nobody can accuse the Arsenal number one Wojciech Szczesny of having a problem with his self confidence, and the 22-year old stopper has declared that he has no fear of tonight’s German opposition Bayern Munich. The Polish international is well aware of their record this season, but he has faith in himself and his Arsenal team mates, and he seems to be expecting to surprise a few people tonight.

In fact, Szczesny revealed that there was just one team that he was really hoping to avoid in the Champions league draw, and they are the team widely acknowledged as being the best team in the world, some say of all time, Barcelona. Munich are, however, second favourites after the Catalan club to lift the trophy this season, but that does not worry our Shezza. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger is well aware that Arsenal have a tough task on their hands in the Champions league. Bayern Munich were last year’s finalists and probably should have won the trophy, but Chelsea held on with some last ditch defending and won the penalty shoot out. Bayern are storming along in the German Bundesliga, so it is no real surprise that they are favourites to progress to the next round at the expense of the Gunners.

Sometimes, especially in cup competitions, underdogs can thrive on that status, and use the arrogance and high expectations of the opponents against them. After Bayern’s Dutch winger Arjen Robben made some disparaging comments about Arsenal, Wenger should use his words to get the players well and truly fired up and determined to make him eat his words. .......Read the full article here

The only member of the Arsenal team who has started more Premier league games this season than the captain Thomas Vermaelen is Santi Cazorla, The Belgian defender also started all six of the group games in the Champions league, outlining his experience and importance to Arsene Wenger. It could be a disaster for the Gunners if he misses the next European game, in a week’s time against the runaway leaders of the German Bundesliga, Bayern Munich.

For the second time this season, Vermaelen has been given an injection by the Arsenal medical team in order to bring down the swelling on his problematic ankle. The idea is for him to do some light training with the squad this week, but he will almost certainly be rested for the FA cup fifth round match against Blackburn Rovers. .......Read the full article here

Who will play Left Back against Bayern? by KJ

The game against Bayern Munich draws inexorably closer and there’s a growing worry that we’ll be extremely short in the left back position against one of the best teams in Europe. There are really only two options for the left back position against Munich – Sagna and Vermaelen. Fortunately, Santos won’t be an option after securing a loan move to Gremio today. .......Read the full article here

Everything should be hunky-dory with Arsenal’s opponents in the Champions league knockout phase. Bayern Munich are 12 points clear at the top of the German Bundesliga, having lost just once in the league all season, scoring 51 goals and conceding just seven.

Tensions never seem to be far from the surface, however, and there are stories seeping out of Germany about unrest and different factions in the Bayern dressing room. Unsurprisingly, the Dutch international Arjen Robben is involved in the stories, and the club’s director of football, Matthias Sammer, has issued a statement to try and put a stop to the bickering. .......Read the full article here

Towards the end of the first half against Liverpool yesterday, most Arsenal fans will have experienced a sick feeling in their stomach, accompanied by a cold, clammy sensation that smells of pain and defeat. As Kieran Gibbs left the field to be replaced by Andre Santos, we all feared the worst. The only positive is that the injury gave Arsene Wenger 24 hours to find a replacement.

“He has a thigh strain that rules him out for the next three weeks. It’s a blow for us of course.

“He was an important player for us going forward and the game we wanted to play. It’s a shame he’s out for the next three weeks.” .......Read the full article here

The big game between Germany and Holland (two of the pre-tournament favourites) saw the Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie come up against the Gunners newest striker Lukas Podolski and Arsenal’s centre-back Per Mertesacker.

Due to the nature of the game, and the presence of strikers like Mario Gomez, Podolski was deployed out on the wing and spent most of the game helping to keep Arjen Robben quiet, in a fashion that would have impressed Arsene Wenger.

But Mertesacker is pretty sure that Arsenal fans will soon get a chance to see Podolski making use of his attacking abilities as the competition progresses. He said: “Defensively it was a great game from Lukas,” .......Read the full article here