It’s the Champions League or nothing for Arsenal

 
7 March 2014

Arsene Wenger is not the kind of manager to concede defeat in any competition and it would be a big mistake if he did that now in the Champions League.

While the club’s fans obviously want to see a trophy of any kind enter the cabinet come May, there is no doubt the Champions League, rather than the FA Cup, is a prize the board would prefer Wenger to claim.

Naturally, they have a greater chance of success domestically, especially with the team facing a 2-0 deficit against the reigning European champions Bayern Munich after the home leg of their last-16 tie.

But Wenger has never come across as someone with a bad memory. He only has to think back 12 months, when his side won 2-0 in the Allianz Arena, for a great source of encouragement.

On that occasion it was not enough to prevent Arsenal from going out on away goals but this time the same scoreline would force extra time. Besides, until Wojciech Szczesny was sent off in the first leg, Arsenal were the better side.

Bayern looked vulnerable at the back to Arsenal’s speed on the counter attack and the Gunners will surely play top scorer Olivier Giroud, rather than Yaya Sanogo, up front to capitalise on any opportunities.

The loss of Szczesny through suspension should not be that significant because back-up goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski played in Munich last March, too.

To give up now would send a terrible message to the dressing room and the supporters, something which could have consequences for their attempts to succeed in the Premier League.

After all, their stunning triumph in Germany last year sparked a remarkable run in the top flight that ended up securing Champions League football for this season.

The surge in self-belief inspired Arsenal to win eight and draw two of their last 10 matches to claim 26 points and fourth in the table. A repeat of that tally could be enough to claim the title so Wenger has everything to gain by making the Champions League his priority.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in