Bayern boss says Arsenal have the advantage as they have to win Pep Guardiola has warned Bayern Munich to expect to face an Arsenal ‘animal’ fighting for Champions League survival at the Emirates Stadium tonight.
The German giants arrived in London on the back of a record ninth consecutive Bundesliga victory and are runaway leaders of Group F with maximum points from two European ties, scoring eight goals with no reply.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have slumped to successive defeats in Europe leaving them bottom of the table and facing an uphill battle to qualify for the knockout stages once again.
However, given the Gunners’ impressive domestic form since their shock 3-2 home reverse by Olympiakos on match day two, Guardiola knows Bayern must be on their guard despite having recorded victories on each of their last visits to Ashburton Grove in successive European campaigns.
Likely Arsenal line-up:
“For them, they have an advantage because they have to win, when that happens with these kind of players, and the history of this club, they are going to make the best performance possible,” Guardiola said. “I don’t expect anything other than a fight for the 90 minutes.
“We have to look for another way to compete against them because of the enthusiasm they will have, so we will have to be intelligent and control our game.”
The ex-Barca coach continued: “Of course I prefer to come here with six points, but I can imagine my team with zero points and playing in Germany against Arsenal.
“I can imagine the mentality of my team – we would be an animal, because it is our last chance, you give everything and that will happen.
“We saw what happened with Arsenal against Zagreb and Olympiakos, when no-one expected them to win, and it will be the same for us tomorrow.”
Arsene Wenger knows he must get the balance right as Arsenal look for the victory to keep alive hopes of qualification, but also pay Bayern, the 2012-13 European Cup winners, their due respects
“You can consider the teams who win the Champions League are the best in the world because most of the time they win after the World Cup of the clubs in recent years,” he said.
“However, there is no team without weaknesses.
Likely Bayern Munich line-up:
“What we want to do is win the game. We want to defend well, attack well, score the first goal, that is massively important in the big games. You can never promise you will score three goals in 20 minutes because that would be absolutely crazy. What we can do is start in a strong way and that is what we will try to do.”
Wenger feels Arsenal need to show a completely different attitude from when they were beaten away by Dinamo Zagreb on matchday one and then slumped to a 3-2 home defeat by Olympiakos.
“We have some ground to make up in Europe as we have not been at our requested level in our first two games,” said Wenger, who will have centre-back Gabriel available again following illness, but goalkeeper David Ospina has a shoulder injury.
“Our focus has been much stronger in the Premier League than in Europe and we know in this game the focus needs to be exactly the same as in the Premier League.”
Arsene Wenger vs Pep Guardiola head-to-head
The two managers have met six times in Europe, with Wenger winning just once.
Guardiola – three wins
Wenger – one win
Draws – two
