The Champions League returns once more, and the test in front of Arsenal is an imposing one.

Can the Gunners buck the trend for exiting the Champions League at the Last16 stage and beat one of the favourites for the Euro title in the process?

Arsenal have played the German giants ten times in total and won three of them. The Gunners have also been dumped out of Europe’s premier competition twice in the last four seasons by Munich too. The task ahead is a big one.

Arsenal at least have some returning personnel to boost them ahead of the game. Granit Xhaka saw out the last of his four game suspension in the weekend, but would have been part of the squad regardless as his ban applied to domestic football only. Mohamed Elneny was on the bench for the Hull game four days ago and is also in the reckoning. It is in this position that Wenger has his biggest headache. 

Does he stick with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has impressed in his stint in the middle? Or does he go to the Allianz Arena with a defensive mindset? It will be vital to restrict Bayern in attack as they could well make the second leg at The Emirates redundant by romping this game. It can also be said that an away goal could prove decisive too. 

Whoever lines up in the centre, there are other positions that require a decision. 

Alex Iwobi has emerged as the first choice on the left when Alexis plays as the striker. His defensive element needs refining though. Can we afford to leave the door open on a flank? Danny Welbeck will be champing at the bit to make his mark, and his tracking back would give him a huge advantage over Iwobi.

Lucas Perez is another who has done wonders in order to get named on the teamsheet, but it looks as though the Spaniard will again start on the bench. Mesut Ozil has been searching for form over the last few games, but is there a better time to rise to prominence than this match? He is capable of unlocking a Bayern side who have not lost a game since November, so fingers crossed we see the real Ozil.

Petr Cech looked to have returned to his imperious best against Hull, but David Ospina will more than likely retain his position as Cup Keeper. He will have to be on the form which repelled countless PSG attacks in our earlier group match against the French side if we are to escape Munich with hopes intact.
Bayern boss Carlo Ancelotti has his talisman Xabi Alonso back after he returned to training recently, but Franck Ribery and Jerome Boateng are out through injury. Javi Martinez and Mats Hummels will be the in the centre of defence for the home side, and the midfield has an embarrassment of riches to pick from. Joshua Kimmich, Arturo Vidal, Arjen Robben and Thiago Alcantara are just some who may be lining up against the Gunners.

A multi-faceted attack with composure in possession, Bayern will stretch our limits. We have enough in our weapon rack to hurt them, but it is hard to envision sometimes when you take into consideration our woeful form. 

It is high time that we started to show that it isn’t just the Deloitte Money list that we are amongst the elite. We have the resources and the players to be contenders in this competition, but our record has not shown this for some time.

With no Premier League fixtures and an FA Cup match in the weekend that should allow rotation, we can afford to go all out for the 90 minutes. Let us hope our quickness of play returns and so does our form. A good result here could spark our season into life.
Predicted Lineup: Ospina, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Xhaka, Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi, Alexis.

Predicted Scoreline: To hell with realism. I say 2-1 to Arsenal. 

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