Arsenal face Bayern München in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final matchup at Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners are appearing at this stage for the first time since 2010 and will be hoping to put up a strong performance so that they can position themselves as favourites to reach the semi-final stage when they travel to the Allianz Arena for the second leg next week.
This is how the North London side can overcome their failings against a club that has gotten the better of them so many times over the years.
Keys for Arsenal to Beat Bayern
Stop Kane from Playing His Game
A familiar face is returning to North London in the shape of Harry Kane. The England captain has 48 goal contributions in just 37 games in his first season for the Bavarian side and with the Bundesliga title almost settled in favour of Bayer Leverkusen, Kane’s only shot at glory this season will be through winning the Champions League.
The former Tottenham striker has an outstanding record against Arsenal scoring 14 times in 19 appearances and was always a major threat throughout his career in England. Five of those goals have come at the Emirates but four of the five were penalties so if the Arsenal defence can avoid mistakes at the back, then they may avoid Kane affecting the scoreline in his first visit back to England since leaving for Germany last summer.
Carry League Momentum and Impose Arteta’s Playing Style on Bayern
Arsenal carry a lot of heavy baggage in their recent European history against this week’s visitors. They have lost their last three games against them for a dreadful combined score of 15-3 – falling to repeated 5-1 losses. However, this is a different Gunners side under the management of Mikel Arteta who has redefined the concept of defending in north London.
The home side defends and attacks as a whole unit and this is evident through the style in which Kai Havertz, currently deployed as a centre forward, presses and duels at the top of the pitch. This has led to them boasting the best defensive record in the Premier League this season only conceding at a rate of 0.77 per game. Arsenal have won 10 of their last 11 league games picking up 31 of the last 33 points available whereas Bayern have lost back-to-back league games to effectively hand the title to Bayer Leverkusen.
If Arteta’s side are going to create new history in Europe, they will have to carry these impressive domestic displays over to the Champions League, a challenge even the great Invincibles side failed to accomplish. This young squad have to play to their own rhythm and not allow the Bavarians to get comfortable as they have done in so many ties against the Gunners in the past.
If Arsenal manage to get on the right side of the aggregate scoreline in the home leg then they will put one foot into the semi-finals as they will have every confidence in getting the job done in Germany next week.
More must-reads: