Bayern vs Arsenal: Tuchel divulges one thing that makes Bavarians favourites to advance

Thomas Tuchel in Bayern Munich training (Imago/Sven Simon)

i

Thomas Tuchel thinks Bayern Munich have the edge over Arsenal (Imago/Sven Simon)

Bayern vs Arsenal: Tuchel divulges one thing that makes Bavarians favourites to advance

Seye Omidiora 19:53 - 16.04.2024

The outgoing Bayern head coach has pointed out why Mikel Arteta’s men may struggle at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday.

Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel has stated that he recognises Arsenal’s ambition to claim success over his team in the Champions League but has highlighted that the deposed German champions have the edge over the Gunners. 

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ng/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Bayern vs Arsenal

Mikel Arteta’s men could not take advantage of an early Bukayo Saka goal in last week’s first leg meeting at the Emirates Stadium, with the North London side falling 2-1 behind after old boy Serge Gnabry levelled before Harry Kane notched his 15th strike against the Gunners. 

Leandro Trossard was set up by Gabriel Jesus for a record-matching equaliser and it stayed that way in London, thus setting up a mouth-watering second leg at the Allianz Arena. 

What Tuchel said before Bayern take on Arsenal

Despite losing Bayern’s 11-year Bundesliga strangle-hold, Tuchel thinks the giants six-time European champions have the edge in what has previously been a one-sided Champions League rivalry. 

“I think we have the slight advantage of the experience in our team,” said Tuchel to a press conference on Tuesday. “We have players who’ve won it, we have players who’ve played decisive matches in this competition. But to make it an advantage we have to bring out the very best in us.

“For us it’s not usual to be in a semi-final. If you see the last (few) years it’s not so easy for us — or anyone.

Tuchel has been upbeat in the lead-up to Bayern hosting Arsenal
Tuchel has been upbeat in the lead-up to Bayern hosting Arsenal (Imago)

"It’s not so easy to overcome this stage, so now the situation is here that we have 90 or 120 minutes or penalties to go, we have this one decisive match to make the next big step in this beautiful competition, and we are determined to bring everything to the table.  

“If the experience in our group brings us an extra five percent, we’re happy to bring it to the table. But we have to bring it, nobody will give anything to us — it’s like that in this competition, it’s super tough.”

The winner of Wednesday’s tie will face Manchester City or Real Madrid in the competition’s semi-final.