Arsenal out to tame ‘angry’ Bayern Munich again

Confident Arsenal travel to Munich on Wednesday hoping to tame the German champions for a second time in two weeks, and are promising to attack despite a string of injuries.

The English club are on a high after a fifth consecutive Premier League win at the weekend — a 3-0 victory at Swansea — and the timing of their visit to the Bavarian capital could hardly be better.

Bayern dropped their first points in the Bundesliga on Friday with a goalless draw at Eintracht Frankfurt.

It followed 10 consecutive victories from the start of the season and, coupled with their 2-0 loss at the Emirates Stadium on October 20 — their first defeat in all competitions — Bayern have shed some of that invincible aura.

Arsenal’s victory over Bayern put Arsene Wenger’s side back in contention in Group F with three points. Bayern and Olympiakos have six.

“They [Bayern] will be angry,” said Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker. 

“We are the first team who really challenged them and beat them. They will be on the ball and try to show that they are back and better than us.”

The former Germany international added: “They are clever, the Germans. We showed that we can beat them. That is a good sign but it will be a different game at their place.

“We improved our position in the last game against Munich but we need to get something out of this game.”

Arsenal are missing key players, including Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere.

But with Olivier Giroud having scored six goals in his past six games and playmaker Mesut Ozil delivering nine assists in 10 league games, they are not prepared to sit back and defend.

“I would sign today to take a point,” said coach Arsene Wenger. “But to sit off Bayern, with their offensive quality, would be difficult to maintain for 90 minutes. We have to relieve the pressure whenever we can and try to score goals.

“That is our structure of the team, to attack. If you get our players to defend then I do not think we will be so efficient. We have to play every time we can.”

Bayern, who last season won all six home games in the competition en route to the semifinals, are by no means in a slump, and their dominance and string of chances against defensive Eintracht was indicative of the team’s attacking instincts.

Bayern will have Arjen Robben fit for his first Champions League game of the season after the Dutchman was injured in September, but they will be without Mario Goetze, while Juan Bernat and Holger Badstuber are doubtful.

“We will show Arsenal on Wednesday the real Bayern,” said Bayern midfielder Arturo Vidal. “Our confidence is high and this time we will use our chances and get the three points.”

A third consecutive Champions League victory for the Catalans, despite the prolonged absence of the injured Lionel Messi, allied to Roma not beating Bayer Leverkusen at home, will mathematically seal the five-time champions’ place in the knockout stages.

Luis Suarez and Neymar have carried the goalscoring burden in Messi’s absence, scoring all of Barca’s last 14 league goals.

Both were on target in a comfortable 2-0 win over Getafe on Saturday that created more headlines for the Halloween costumes that the Barca players wore as they burst into a Getafe post-match press conference than the action on the field.

And Suarez said he and Neymar’s contrasting styles help compliment each other.

“Everyone knows their own game. I don’t try to dribble past three or four players, but Neymar has those characteristics.

“Every player tries to adapt to what the coach asks of them.”

However, the former Liverpool striker laughed off suggestions Barca’s recent form means they aren’t missing Messi.

“Everyone remembers Messi because he is the best player in the world. We all miss him.”

Barca boss Luis Enrique heaped praise upon Sergio Busquets rather than Suarez and Neymar after the win at Getafe, hailing him as the “best midfielder in the world”.

However, Enrique also suggested he wants to give Busquets a rest after a heavy workload at the start of the season and with a tough test in Villarreal to come at the weekend, the Spanish international may be left out on Wednesday.

BATE Borisov defender Filip Mladenovic celebrates after scoring during the Champions League Group E match against Roma at the Borisov-Arena on September 29, 2015

Javier Mascherano is free to play despite being halfway though a two-game ban in La Liga.

Andres Iniesta is also likely to return to the starting line-up for the first time in over a month after making his return from a hamstring injury as a second-half substitute at the weekend.

Sergi Roberto also made his comeback against Getafe from a brief spell on the sidelines after picking up a groin injury in Barca’s 2-0 win over BATE in Belarus two weeks ago.

And the 23-year-old made a spectacular impression with assists for both goals, including a perfectly weighted backheel into Suarez’s path for the opener.

Jose Mourinho admits Chelsea have no margin for error as the pressure mounts on the beleaguered Blues boss ahead of Wednesday’s crucial Champions League clash against Dynamo Kiev.

Mourinho faces one of the most significant moments in his long and illustrious career when Kiev visit Stamford Bridge for a match he cannot afford to lose.

The 52-year-old is hanging onto his job by a slender thread after a turbulent season took another turn for the worse with a 3-1 home defeat against Liverpool on Saturday.

That lacklustre loss left Chelsea languishing in 15th place in the English top-flight, with their six defeats from 11 games the worst start by defending champions in the Premier League era.

The 0-0 draw in Kiev in Chelsea’s last European fixture suggests the Ukrainians won’t necessarily provide the kind of tame opposition Mourinho could do with facing, especially with the Blues no longer such an imposing force at home.