[Arsenal Key Battles] 3 Things Wenger Must Do To Beat Bayern

Arsenal face the daunting task of going to the Allianz Arena to take on an outstanding Bayern Munich side as they look to reverse their two goal deficit and book their place in the quarter finals of the Champions League. Here are three things that Arsenal must do to ensure that they have a chance to beat the German champions.

Shackle Kroos and Thiago

It is no secret that Bayern’s possession football is based on the individuals playing in the middle of the park and Arsenal have to ensure that they do not allow that to happen once again after it was their undoing in the first leg. Arsenal were outplayed in the middle of the park and they failed to handle the pair of Thiago and Kroos who tore them apart time and again.

Both the players are more than capable of picking passes when given time on the ball and Arsenal were lacking in this regard last time out. In fact Kroos scored a delightful long range strike in the last game to highlight the danger that these players pose, and Arsenal will have to task their two holding players to shackle them if they want control of the midfield.

Stifle Robbery

The pair of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery are perhaps the best wing attack in the world and they pose a threat like no other. They are both highly skillful players capable of playing a splendid ball as well as scoring a spectacular goal – a big part of how Bayern play.

In the previous leg, Ribery was missing due to an injury but Robben absolutely destroyed Arsenal on the right flank as he tore them time and again. Santi Cazorla had a poor outing as he failed to contribute defensively and Robben went past the fullback far too easily far too often. Arsenal will have to ensure that their wide midfield players double back and put in a shift this Tuesday to negate the Robbery threat.

The likes of Ozil and Cazorla simply cannot contribute to Arsenal defensively. Hence if Wenger decides use Ozil as a No.10, Cazorla must be left on the bench allowing Podolski and Rosicky to play on either wings as the pair are more direct in their approach and have the willingness to track back and help their fullbacks. Rosicky can be quite useful to press the Bayern midfield and Podolski with his pile driver shots can rattle Neuer’s post if given the time and space.

Target Lahm

Bayern manager Pep Guardiola loves to deploy his captain Philip Lahm as a defensive midfielder, a role that he believes best utilizes Lahm’s passing ability and sharp footballing brain. It has worked like a treat so far as Bayern out-pass all their opponents and have an average of 71.8% possession in Bundesliga games at home this season.

However, playing Lahm in midfield also exposes a weakness that Arsenal must look to exploit. Lahm despite all his intelligence and reading of the game is not a great physical presence and if Arsenal are able to bully him in the middle of the park, it will give time and space to the likes of Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla to get on the ball and cause Bayern some problems.