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Football Whatever happens from here in the
Premier League title race, there is no longer any doubt that Mikel Arteta has built a great team at
Arsenal . The Gunners are probably the best out-of-possession side in Europe and underpinned by a steely ruthlessness which has put paid to the lingering questions about their mentality and soft centre. They still need to get over the line to major honours, but it increasingly feels like a matter of time before they win the title again, even if they may have to wait for one or both of Jurgen Klopp and
Pep Guardiola to leave their current posts with
Liverpool and
Manchester City respectively. Building a team to compete for the Premier League and a side capable of dominating in Europe are very different challenges, however, and a
Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich will test Arsenal's progress and, perhaps more importantly, their pedigree on this stage. Can inexperienced Arsenal out-gun Bayern’s superior European pedigree? While Arsenal are on the up domestically, Bayern are heading in the opposite direction, and their remarkable era of Bundesliga dominance is all but certain to end in a matter of weeks when Bayer Leverkusen — also led by a 42-year-old former
Spain midfielder in Xabi Alonso — dethrone the Bavarians as champions. It is doubtful, however, how much domestic form actually matters for an occasion like tonight's first leg in north London, largely because Bayern are so steeped in history in this competition and Arsenal are not. No one connected with Arsenal need look far for examples of this dynamic at play, with memories of Bayern's three 5-1 wins over Arsene Wenger's side still relatively fresh. Arsenal have an illustrious past of their own, of course, but they have never been a force in the European Cup, and when Bayern lifted the trophy for the sixth time in 2020, the Gunners were in the middle of a run of six years outside of the competition, only returning this season. This experience tends to matter, and the recent history of the Champions League is littered with examples of the old guard beating new money and established giants overcoming more fancied but less experienced sides. Tuchel fires warning to Arsenal despite Bayern Munich crisis Arteta shrugs off Bayern crisis as Arsenal plot Champions League revenge Arsenal beware former foe who could have the last laugh - and it's not Harry Kane First look at exceptional new
London properties for sale in 2024 "They're dominating the toughest league in the world," said Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel of tonight's opponents. "[But] we have more experience in the Champions League. It's different in the Champions League compared to the Premier League. We want to use that to our advantage." Arteta's former club City are the best example of how long it can take an all-conquering domestic team without much history in Europe to make a mark in the Champions League, finally winning the competition in Guardiola's seventh season in charge. Liverpool, by contrast, are part of the old European elite and reached the final in Klopp's second full season, arguably demonstrating the profound importance of pedigree in this competition. We are now creating a new history ... getting through the group and then beating Porto has generated the belief we can go through Mikel Arteta "We don't know how much [it will matter], but they have the experience and have gone through a lot of those moments and that is in their history," said Arteta. "We are now creating a new history, and that is why those moments that we had in the group stages, for qualifying first and now what we did with Porto, is really important, as it generates belief, a sense of positivity in the team that when the moment comes, we can overcome it and go through." Arteta, for all his qualities, embodies Arsenal's lack of experience at this level, and one of the last questions about him as a coach is his record in European knockout games, not exactly put to bed as Arsenal made hard work of Porto in the last-16. Tuchel, of course, is a Champions League winner with
Chelsea in 2021, and his squad has a number of players who have previously lifted the trophy. Even Bayern's two least decorated senior players, former Spurs pair Harry Kane and Eric Dier, who are regularly mocked by Arsenal fans for their lack of silverware, played in the 2019 final. "When you're at a big club that has a big history of winning and a recent history, there is a natural belief that exists within the club," said Dier this week. "When I first arrived at Bayern, the first two people I met were the doctors while I was having my medical, and they were telling me that we have to win, we have to win certain trophies, so you feel the pressure from everywhere and immediately, which is intense." In contrast, when Arsenal lost 1-0 at Porto, Kai Havertz was their only player to have previously started a Champions League knockout match, although the German has the honour of having scored the winner in that 2021 final. Arteta is understandably considering bringing in more experience tonight in Jorginho, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus, who also played in Chelsea's win over City three years ago. By almost every metric, Arsenal have been a better team than Bayern this season, but tonight they will be playing the badge and the occasion as much as the opponent. The form-book makes Arteta's side favourites, but history suggests it would not be a surprise if Arsenal's momentum and quality met powerful resistance in Bayern's ingrained European knowhow. MORE ABOUT Have your say...