It’s been almost a decade since Arsenal last found themselves mixing it in the latter stages of the Champions League and the journey since then has been a painful one.
But tonight, after years in the European wilderness, the Gunners return to the big time and find themselves with an opportunity to strike a blow against a side that has haunted and humiliated them in turn over the years.
In the latter stages of Arsene Wenger’s reign, we served as something of a plaything for Bayern – a whipping boy and stepping stone on the path to bigger and better sides. No-one who has been watching Arsenal for any length of time will forget the infamous 10-2 hammering.
This year, however, and with the spectre of Arsene long since departed, we find ourselves in a position of genuine strength and perhaps even as favourites going into a quarter-final against Bayern; it’s not often you can say that.
The Champions League is no ordinary competition, though, and, as Porto proved so capably in the last round, knock-out ties can turn form on its head. Though Bayern have struggled this season, at least by their own standards, they are more than capable of causing us big problems across two legs.
That side, we have to look at this as an opportunity. Not only to take advantage of Bayern’s relative weakness this season but also to banish some ghosts in our past.
The way we’ve played in 2024 has been outstanding. Offensively and defensively we have been pretty much peerless and, if we can take some of that into tonight’s clash, we will put ourselves in a good position.
We are fortunate also in that Bayern fans won’t be allowed to travel to the Emirates in numbers owing to a stadium ban for previous bad behaviour. The sheer partisanship of the crowd alone could make a huge difference as we seek to turn up the pressure on the visitors.
Quite how Thomas Tuchel will approach things at the Emirates is an intriguing aspect of this tie. He is not entirely unfamiliar with Mikel Arteta and the Premier League, and nor is he a fool – whatever may have transpired this season.
My best guess would be on a counter-attacking approach, utilising the pace of Serge Gnabry and goal-scoring nous of Harry Kane to get up the field in just a few passes after an attacking move is broken up. Kane, of course, is no stranger to that approach or, indeed, to this Arsenal side – having faced us countless times over the years. Stopping him will be crucial.
For Arsenal’s part, I would expect Arteta to go with the same starting XI that took to the field at Brighton at the weekend. He is loathe to stray too far away from his favoured line-up and, in all truth, there is little cause to do so.
If there are to be any tweaks, the manager may look at Oleksandr Zinchenko. Would he prefer the defensive solidity of Takehiro Tomiyasu against Gnabry in a tricky European tie? Perhaps.
The manager may also consider Thomas Partey as an option in the centre of midfield – giving Joringho an opportunity to rest ahead amid a frankly bonkers run of games we have coming up. I think the former change is vastly more likely than the latter, though.
We are fortune, though, that our injury list at this stage of this season is short. We have options available all over the pitch and, hopefully, we can make use of our depth without too much lost in performance.
Above all, though, we musn’t get carried away. We are playing superbly, morale is sky high and the Emirates will be baying for blood tonight, but the only thing that really matters is the performance. If Arteta can keep heads screwed on tight, there’s no reason we can’t make a real go of it.
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