Arsenal head to Bavaria for the second-leg of their Champions League quarter-final, and Mikel Arteta’s side might be riled by Thomas Tuchel’s suggestion that Bayern Munich have the advantage in the tie despite the first leg ending 2-2.
There’s still all to play for in Germany, and that’s something that applies to both teams.
Bayern have already lost out on this season’s Bundesliga with Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen stopping them from making it 12 in a row whilst also taking the German top-flight title for the first time in their history.
Tuchel hoping Bayern’s experience will see them eliminate Arsenal
Arsenal’s 2-0 home loss against Aston Villa has seen Man City edge ahead of them at the top of the Premier League table, and with a two-point gap at this point, Pep Guardiola’s side might well be considered favourites now.
As such, the Champions League could represent both club’s final hope of silverware in the 2023/24 season, so the Gunners shouldn’t be discounted from going to the Allianz Arena and getting a result.
“We have a slight advantage when you look at our experience in this competition,” Tuchel said in his pre-match press conference, attended by various media including representatives from CaughtOffside.
“But to turn it into a real advantage, you also need a top performance. We’re ready to give it everything we’ve go.
“We’ll need everything again. We’ll need passion and the same tactical discipline as in the first leg. We really want to win this game. It’ll be extremely important that every fan comes to support and push us.
“They play a very attractive brand of football at the highest level. We did well in the first leg, but we’re only halfway through the tie. We need everything again and hope that playing at home will give us the boost we need.”
Whilst the German was careful with his wording, it’s doubtful that the away side will agree with the former Chelsea manager’s assessment.
There are likely to be late fitness tests for both Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, and were either not available for the game, it would leave Mikel Arteta’s side weaker for what is going to be one of their toughest remaining tests of this campaign.
With Harry Kane denied a maiden league title in his professional career, something that he surely couldn’t have countenanced when signing for a team that have won it for the last 11 years, this match against his old foes from his Tottenham days, could allow him to cement his Bayern legend futher.