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LONDON. — Arsene Wenger has vowed to attack Bayern Munich tonight in the 90 minutes that will decide Arsenal’s Champions League soccer fate. Wenger is confident the Gunners can cause an upset against Bayern Munich and open their Champions League account when the German champions visit the Emirates Stadium tonight.
The Gunners will go into that Emirates Stadium showdown in excellent domestic form having seen off Watford with a triple salvo of late goals. That added to high-scoring domestic wins over Leicester and Manchester United: Wenger cannot be ignored when he claims Arsenal really are title contenders this term.
But defeats by Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos interspersed between impressive Premier League displays mean the Gunners will be all but out of Europe this month if they slip up again.
“The confidence level is there, the required result is there as well,” said Wenger.
“We know exactly what is needed — a 0-0 is not even a good result. To score goals, we have to attack.
“What we want to do is play up to our level because that will be needed against a big team.”
Arsenal have made a habit of defying expectations but Wenger admitted those first two defeats were their own fault.
“It is true that it happened before but we want to do it again because we feel a bit that the pain inflicted was a bit by ourselves, maybe subconsciously we thought, ‘anyway we will win these’. Now to correct we need a great performance.”
Watford gave the Gunners a testing 90 minutes and it was not until the 62nd minute that Alexis Sanchez broke the deadlock. Mesut Ozil then set up substitute Olivier Giroud for the second and Aaron Ramsey netted his first club goal of the season to sink the Hornets.
The one and only disappointment for the visitors was an anonymous showing up front by Theo Walcott.
But Walcott insists Arsenal will salvage their Champions League campaign against Bayern Munich tonight by emulating their ruthless demolition of Manchester United.
Wenger’s side are in severe danger of failing to reach the knock-out stages for the first time in 16 years after two dismal defeats.
The Gunners were beaten at Dinamo Zagreb and then suffered the embarrassment of losing at home to Olympiakos, leaving them pointless at the bottom of Group F.
Another loss when Bayern visit the Emirates Stadium would put Arsenal on the verge of a stunning exit and, with so much on the line, the German champions’ imperious form this season makes facing them even more daunting opponents.
Yet Arsenal go into the crunch clash in good form after winning 3-0 at Watford on Saturday.
England forward Walcott claims the north Londoners will have no reason to fear Bayern if they tear into them with the kind of high-tempo attacking style that led to a 3-0 rout of United in the English Premier League earlier in October.
“We just need to move on from the first couple of (European) results, they have happened. We know we are capable of getting results against Bayern Munich and we obviously want to put things right,” Walcott said. — Reuters.
Online Reporter