Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has warned his players that ‘every minute counts’ in tonight’s glamour tie with Bayern Munich in the Champions League last-16.
The Gunners faced the German giants in this stage last season, and after just 20-minutes of the tie, Wenger’s men were already 2-0 down at the Emirates Stadium.
They eventually went on to lose 3-1 at home, before surprising everyone by beating Munich 2-0 in Germany, which saw them eliminated only on goal difference, and ahead of tonight’s game, Wenger has urged his players to make every minute count.
“With the quality of the players on the pitch on both sides, it’s nearly impossible to play without style,” he said. “All the quality players are exceptionally gifted people and they will produce a quality game.
“If you look at the history of the Champions League, you will see that it is always the big players who make a difference, and after the analysis is always adapted to the team that wins. But most of the time it’s the big players who make the difference on the pitch.
“It is important [to make a fast start] because every minute counts in a game of this stature and we are conscious of that and we’ll try to start very strongly. We have big home strengths recently because we don’t give goals away and that will certainly be vitally important in this tie.”
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
