Mikel Arteta has underlined the importance of playing without fear when Bayern Munich visit Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.
While Mikel Arteta has underlined the importance of playing without fear when facing Bayern Munich in their Champions League Clash
However, Arteta is suspended for the first leg after being sent off at Napoli in Arsenal’s final group game, but he expects his team-mates to impose themselves.
“We have to have respect them but we can’t be frightened, we can’t play with fear,” Arteta told Arsenal Player. “They won’t like coming here, coming to the Emirates is a difficult ground.
“If we show that we are really at it and we want it, then they are going to face a difficult game here.
“Some days it’s more the details [that make the difference], it’s more mistakes that cost you games,” he added. “That’s what we have to avoid and at home even more so because you know away goals are really important. If we can keep a clean sheet, it’s massive.”
Arteta admits that the Gunners face a major challenge against the runaway Bundesliga leaders, but he is confident they can spring a surprise.
“They’re a unit, that’s probably the biggest strength they have got,” he said. “They’ve been playing for a long time together, even if they have added a few pieces.
“They are very creative, they can use the full backs to have people running behind, they have people who can hold the ball, running midfielders, they can shoot from outside the box.
“They’ve got a complete team but again I think they face some issues at the back which I’m sure we can exploit.”
And as the sides prepare for this season’s rematch, Vermaelen is hoping Arsenal can use the memory of that game to their advantage
“It’s really difficult to say what would be a good result in this first leg,” he told the official matchday programme. “The priority is always that you don’t want to concede a goal at home, but it’s about two legs, and we won away last season of course, so you never know what will happen.
“They will think about that game in Germany last season too, that might make them a bit nervous. We were really close to knocking them out and I don’t think they would have been happy to draw us at this stage. There were easier draws than us!”
Vermaelen has been out of action since January 4 when he was taken off at half-time in the FA Cup win over Tottenham, but he reveals he is close to making a return to first-team action.
“It’s going well, I’m training outside now and getting back to fitness. It was a knee injury, but then I also had some tightness in my calf. But it’s getting better now, so I shouldn’t be out for long.
“I don’t want to put a date on it, but I can say it will be short-term. I’m building up my fitness now.”
Written by Steve Milne @stevenmilnelive
