The State of Play
For the first time since 2012, someone other than Bayern Munich were crowned champions of the Bundesliga at the weekend as Bayer Leverkusen won their first ever title. That now officially means Bayern’s only hope of any silverware this season is in the UEFA Champions League. They performed well, especially in relative terms to the rest of the campaign, as they shared a 2-2 draw against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal will be frustrated with that two-all draw against Bayern as there were real signs of naivety in the first-half of that match, akin to the latter Arsene Wenger days in the UEFA Champions League. They then backed that up with a 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa, too, in the Premier League after being knocked off top spot in the top-flight with Mikel Arteta left exasperated in the aftermath.
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Team News
Thomas Tuchel has one key absentee due to suspension for this week as Canadian international Alphonso Davies will be unavailable. Bayern are also without the likes of Serge Gnabry and Bouna Sarr due to injury issues.
Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Netherlands international defender Jurrien Timber may be able to return to the first-team this season but is not yet available. Kai Havertz played in midfield at the weekend but is expected to return to the Gunners’ front three.
Expected Line-ups
Bayern Munich: Neuer; Kimmich, De Ligt, Dier, Guerreiro; Laimer, Goretzka; Sane, Muller, Musiala; Kane
Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Rice, Jorginho, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
What they Said
In the build-up to this second-leg, former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel described himself as ‘very sad’ over an injury suffered by Kingsley Coman in Bayern’s 2-0 defeat of Cologne at the weekend.
In the aftermath of Arsenal’s 2-0 loss to Aston Villa at the weekend, Mikel Arteta has insisted that his Gunners side must ‘keep believing’ and described the first-half showing as ‘one of the best performances’ so far this season.
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at the Allianz Arena and will kick off at 20:00 on Wednesday April 17th. It will be televised live on TNT Sports in the UK and will also be able to be streamed via the TNT Sports app in the UK.
Prediction
We have the potential for another high-scoring thriller in Bavaria for this second-leg. Bayern Munich have underwhelmed throughout the campaign with DFB-Pokal elimination to third-tier Saarbrucken, a defence of the German title that has bordered on pathetic and that all followed a hammering at the hands of RB Leipzig in the DFL-Supercup back in August. All they have to play for is this competition but they are dealing with a major blow due to the absence of Serge Gnabry. Arsenal will travel to Bavaria looking to restore some fluency and confidence that has gone missing in the last month and a half ever since, arguably, half-time of their 6-0 demolition of Sheffield United at Bramall Lane in early March. Arsenal should be capable of creating some openings against a Bayern side that have lacked cohesion both in defence and attack throughout this campaign but both teams scoring looks a good bet with Bayern likely to be intense and on the front foot at home.
