Morning all.
It’s honours even as we go into tonight’s match against Bayer Leverkusen with a place in the Champions League quarter-finals at stake.
Not sure there’s much to say/write about the opposition really as it’s already been said or written. In the away fixture, it was clear to see how organised and dangerous the German club are and I’m sure they’ll be the same tonight.
Adrian Clarke, writing in [the official matchday programme](https://programme.arsenal.com/product/arsenal-v-bayer-leverkusen-tuesday-march-17):
_Hujlmand uses a 3-4-2-1 that expands into a bolder 3-2-5 with the wing-backs pushed on high and wide, while out of possession it reverts into a 5-4-1._
_They pop the ball around all over the pitch with Garcia pulling the strings. This confidence in possession means Leverkusen are also happy to play out from the back, taking risks in a bid to slice through the opposition press. They also like to move the ball wide as often as possible, stretching the game out._
_Left-sided Alejandro Grimaldo is capable of scoring from free kicks or from long range, while Algerian youngster Ibrahim Maza takes up lovely positions in pockets of space between the lines, and carries the ball with authority. In the first leg they retreated behind the ball for much of the contest, keeping a very disciplined shape. Their mid-to-low block is not easy to break down, so it is vital we move the ball around with speed and intensity. However, after the league phase Leverkusen had conceded more shots from high turnovers than anyone else, so, if we press well there is every chance we can force mistakes._
Since the two clubs met in Germany, Bayer held Bayern Munich to a 1-1 draw at home. Mind you, Vincent Kompany’s side were down to ten men just a few minutes before halftime and nine with around ten minutes to go.
Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino remain on the sidelines and now Jurrien Timber has joined them but at least his injury seems to be nothing serious. The way he was celebrating Max Dowman’s goal would suggest he’ll be back sooner rather than later. Thankfully, Ben White is fully fit now, as it Leandro Trossard.
Bayern are without Seghir, Arthur, Bade, Vazquez and Flekken.
During his pre-match press conference, Mikel Arteta was asked what his team needs to do to be better than they were in Germany:
> Especially in the first half, and especially a lot of actions that we didn’t even finish, and we allowed counter-attacks there, which is the worst thing that we can do against them as well. We will step up, we will make better decisions for sure, and be more of a threat in that intention.
>
> A lot of factors will contribute for us to be in the quarter-finals tomorrow night after the game, and we need to put every single element that we have to be in our favour to achieve that. They have a lot of quality individually in a lot of areas of the pitch, and as every team they have their strengths, their weaknesses, and we will try to target them.
Captain and central defender Andrich is a clumsy player who on another day with a different set of officials, could have been sent off. Saying that, a different set of officials might not have awarded us a penalty late in the game. I know I wouldn’t have if I was the one operating VAR. My point though is our front players need to put Andrich under pressure to see if he bites, just as we should have done in the first leg after he’d been booked and then warned shortly afterwards. I’m pretty sure Viktor Gyokeres will return to the starting eleven tonight and if he does, will it be Kai Havertz or Ebe Eze behind him I wonder.
For the stats fans, history is on our side as Bayer Leverkusen have lost 8 of their 11 away games against English sides in this competition, however, they have improved that record slightly of late with a victory at The Etihad against earlier in the competition. In general, Bayern seem to do well on the road this season so this game is going to be tough for Arsenal, especially if the opposition sit back. Arsenal players need to find their shooting boots tonight that’s for sure because scoring opportunities might be few and far between.
Catch up in the comments.