Date: Wednesday, February 19 Venue: Emirates Stadium Kick-Off: 19:45 Arsenal host Champions League holders Bayern Munich at the Emirates Stadium tonight for the first leg of their Champions League Last 16 tie.
TEAM NEWS
Jack Wilshere (stiff back), Kieran Gibbs (muscular problem) Bacary Sagna (tired) and Olivier Giroud (tired) are all back in contention for Arsenal's starting line-up tonight after starting Sunday's FA Cup tie with Liverpool on the bench. Mikel Arteta is suspended for the game though after a red card in Napoli in December. Bayern find themselves without Franck Ribery who is still recovering from a buttock injury, and Xherdan Shaqiri who injured his thigh in a two goal display on Saturday. They do however have Bastian Schweinsteiger (ankle) and Daniel Van Buyten available once again.
KEY STATS
Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola has never been victorious at the Emirates Stadium despite two previous attempts when in charge of Barcelona. Despite this his Barcelona side qualified over the two legs in both clashes against the London club. Arsenal have exited at this stage of the competition for the past three seasons. The two sides met at this stage last season, with Bayern qualifying on away goals at an aggregate of 3-3. The Emirates tie of the fixture was 3-1 to the German side. Bayern Munich set a new Champions League record by winning their first five group stage matches this season, but their run ended as Manchester City came back from two goals behind two win 3-2 at the Allianz Arena. Bayern Munich have had the most shots on target in this seasons Champions League with 54. That is 35 more than Arsenal's 19.
Arsenal are against the odds in this one as they come up against the reigning European Champions Bayern Munich. Despite a strong domestic campaign this season Arsenal are in the midst of a recovery after suffering a surprise 5-1 drubbing at the hands of title rivals Liverpool a week and a half ago. Arsene Wenger's men did manage to right the wrong in this past Sunday's FA Cup tie, as they defeated Liverpool 2-1 at the Emirates but there is no doubt that the previous result still weighs on the minds of players and fans alike. Bayern on the other hand are sitting comfortable in the Bundesliga, 16 points ahead of second place Bayer Leverkusen after winning 19 of 21 games this season. Since returning from the winter break the champions have won five straight matches and confidence is high with Guardiola's men. But manager Pep Guardiola himself has yet to win at the Emirates Stadium, having tried twice with his previous Barcelona side drawing 2-2 and losing 2-1 respectively, after having the lead in both games. Barcelona went on to win both ties across the two legs, but is the Spaniard destined to come up short at the Emirates Stadium? Guardiola spoke of his history with the side, saying that thanks to Arsenal's quality they cannot be dominated for a full 90 minutes. No matter how far ahead a team seems you always have a problem. He also spoke about the need to keep Arsenal's star man Mesut Ozil under control. Wenger has also spoken of their past clashes, claiming that Guardiola's Spanish side were a better team than his current Bayern team. He says that the Barcelona team that were under Guardiola were the best team he has ever played against despite praising Bayern's successes from last season. Wenger also said that his team are mentally stronger this season, and are more ready for the challenge presented. source - bbc football
