WHAT THE BRIGHT LIGHTS DEMAND
Champions League knockout games haven’t been good to us over the past 25 years, not have games against Bayern Munich. This one feels extra huge given the context of potentially blowing the league against a messy Aston Villa side.
The maths is simple:
Win and our season is well and truly back on.
Lose, and the ramifications could be devastating to our remaining 5 Premier League games.
Mikel Arteta isn’t just battling physical fatigue this Wednesday, he’s fighting emotional drainage. Every game in 2024 has felt critical in some way, but since the City game on March 31st, every outing has been a cup final. My view is the Bayern game, under the bright lights, on the big boy stage, absolutely wrecked us this past weekend. The consequence was an embarrassing loss at the business end of the season.
Now the boys have a new challenge – it’s the Iain Dowie bouncebackability test.
I bet you didn’t think Iain Dowie was going to be to the answer to the blog headline, did you?
Can young men pick themselves up from the mud and do something historic on the biggest stage in world football?
It’ll be tough.
My suspicion is Arteta will change the system to reduce the load on heavy legs. Bayern Munich absorbed our pressure in the home leg. I think Arsenal will reverse roles away from home and play their game. If it’s of any consequence, I was told the conversation amongst players was they felt they should have won against Bayern. Which is a positive.
So what do we know?
Bayern’s two centre-backs are very slow, Alphonso Davies is suspended, and we have a defence equipped to limit Harry Kane. In fact, we have a defensive system that is highly adept at controlling any team in the world. Tired legs can bed in and catch slow defenders in transition.
We don’t need to win the game in normal time. We can take it into extra time and penalties like we did against Porto. The most blessed virtue in Champions League football is patience. Let Bayern do all the heavy lifting and wait for a chance to kill them.
The great part about this game is we know there will be chances. If Ben White scored that one vs one in the first leg, we’re talking a different game. This QF calls for the most extreme levels of composure we can find. We can’t be wasteful. The boys have to be savages.
This match could also go off the rails like the PSG and Atleti games. You just don’t know what can happen in games like these. No one, not even Dortmund fans, thought they’d progress by scoring 4 goals against a Simeone side, but here we are. Also worth diverting the conversation to state that their progression puts Spurs 5th place CL spot in jeopardy. If they want Champions League, they can’t afford to throw any games during the run-in.
One thing is for sure – the most dangerous teams are on our side of the bracket. The reward of a semi against Madrid or City feels cruel. But as a City fan informed me today… they do NOT like knock-out games against English teams.
We’ll worry about those sort of luxury problems if it matters. I’m so 50/50 on this Bayern game I can barely move past the feeling of numbness. Game feels like a free hit for me.
All we can do is sit back, drink a casual 7 beers to numb the nerves, and hope for the best.
Enjoy the evening wherever you are and make sure you tune in for the On The Whistle after, LIVE on Patreon.
P.S. Thanks to all the folk who signed up to my new newsletter, especially my legendary first boss, Steve T. He let me write Le Grove on the job because he’s a Gooner. Can’t ask for better than that. Big love xxx