Arsenal will need to pull off a first-class performance, as Monaco and Deportivo la Coruna did last season, to avoid elimination from the European Champions League by Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Monaco lost 4-2 at Madrid and AC Milan beat La Coruna 4-1 but both managed to make it through to the last four, and Arsenal’s star striker Thierry Henry said they will be drawing inspiration from that.
Arsenal host Bayern Munich with a 3-1 deficit from the first leg when only a late goal in Germany gave them hope of going through.
”When Monaco lost 4-2 at Madrid, everyone was saying that Real were already through, and the same when Milan won 4-1 against La Coruna,” said Henry, who goes into the match bolstered by a hat-trick against Portsmouth on Saturday.
”But things can happen. We need to put passion in the game to make it happen for us but I’m sure the fans will be up for it.
”You just never know. Even if Bayern score early, the game is not finished. Milan have defenders like Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta but they still lost 4-0 after winning the first leg 4-1.
”Normally, you would say that could never happen to them as they have experience, but it happened.
”Maybe we saw the wrong Arsenal in the first leg, but hopefully we can see the good Arsenal this time.”
Wenger is set to be without Sol Campbell and Pascal Cygan, who sustained a thigh injury in the 3-0 weekend victory against Portsmouth.
Edu should return after passing a fitness test on his hamstring injury, while Dennis Bergkamp and Jose Antonio Reyes will be back after domestic suspensions.
In the absence of Campbell and Cygan, the Arsenal boss will be forced to hand a first Champions League start to 20-year-old Swiss centreback Philippe Senderos.
Bayern Munich received a major blow with Dutch international Roy Makaay set to be ruled out with a thigh injury.
The 29-year-old Dutch striker — scorer of 53 goals in 78 matches for Bayern — tore a muscle in his right thigh late on in Bayern’s 1-0 win over Werder Bremen at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday.
”It is a new situation for us,” confessed Bayern manager Felix Magath. ”He’s always been the first name on the team sheet and I’ll have to think hard about how to play without him.”
Arsenal’s fellow Premiership side Liverpool, however, have a great chance of reaching the quarterfinals of the competition after beating Bayern’s Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 at Anfield.
The away goal has given Leverkusen hope, though they face a defensive crisis with Brazilian international Juan out for two weeks with an injury to his left foot.
Leverkusen have three first choice defenders injured, with German international Jens Nowotny, Brazilian World Cup winner Roque Junior and Juan on the treatment table.
Augenthaler must now reshuffle his defensive pack with former German international Carsten Ramelow set to move back into central defence alongside the 20-year-old Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker.
However, Augenthaler, a World Cup winner as a player in 1990 with the then West Germany, said he wasn’t too concerned given Liverpool’s mediocre form in the Premiership after going down to their 11th defeat on Saturday, a 1-0 reverse to Newcastle.
”Liverpool are hardly pulling up trees,” he said drily.
The 1996 champions Juventus must do without their star Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved as they try to overturn a 1-0 deficit going into their home clash against Real Madrid.
Nedved was carried off on a stretcher during the first leg after a clash of heads with Raul Bravo, and only returned home a few days later following a stay in hospital.
Real welcome back both striker Raul, who has got over a bout of flu, and French playmaker Zinedine Zidane, who has recovered from a left leg injury.
Zidane, who was sorely missed in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Valencia, is itching to be stuck into his former team.
”I’m feeling good. I’ve worked well the past few days and I’m ready to play,” said 32-year-old Zidane, who enjoyed a sparkling spell at the Italian side prior to moving to Real.
”In Turin, we have to attack to go through [Real lead 1-0]. We’re going through a tricky period in Primera Liga because we’ve points to make up, but we always play to win,” said Zidane. ”The Champions League is an important competition for us, for the club and for the fans. We won three years ago and want to win again.”
Monaco, finalists last season, meet PSV Eindhoven with a similar 1-0 deficit with Wednesday’s home clash in the Principality to come.
The hosts will still be without French international central defender Sebastien Squillaci, while goalkeeper Flavio Roma is a doubt. — Sapa-AFP